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arXiv:2211.05782 · Physical Review A

Qubit picture of virtual particles

Gonçalo M. Quinta

Published Jul 21, 2023• 2 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

We show that virtual particles, despite being unobservable, can be described by quantum operators which can be interpreted under certain conditions as valid qubit quantum states. For a single virtual fermion, we prove that such a state is a separable mixed two-qubit state with a well-defined finite temperature. For spin-1 virtual bosons, we find them to be associated with four-qubit operators which can be interpreted as quantum states for some gauges. We also study the creation of virtual pairs of fermions, where the pair is shown to be associated with an entangled four-qubit operator, and show the corresponding quantum circuit. Finally, we prove that renormalization does not structurally affect these results. These findings represent interesting connections between quantum field theory, quantum information, and quantum thermodynamics.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.108.012424

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We show that virtual particles, despite being unobservable, can be described by quantum operators which can be interpreted under certain conditions as valid qubit quantum states. For a single virtual fermion, we prove that such a state is a separable mixed two-qubit state with a well-defined finite temperature. For spin-1 virtual bosons, we find them to be associated with four-qubit operators which can be interpreted as quantum states for some gauges. We also study the creation of virtual pairs of fermions, where the pair is shown to be associated with an entangled four-qubit operator, and show the corresponding quantum circuit. Finally, we prove that renormalization does not structurally affect these results. These findings represent interesting connections between quantum field theory, quantum information, and quantum thermodynamics.
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