Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

arXiv:2211.13347 · Physical review. D/Physical review. D.

Entropy suppression through quantum interference in electric pulses

Gerald V. Dunne, Adrien Florio, Dmitri E. Kharzeev

Published Aug 9, 2023• 5 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

The Schwinger process in strong electric fields creates particles and antiparticles that are entangled. The entropy of entanglement between particles and antiparticles has been found to be equal to the statistical Gibbs entropy of the produced system. Here we study the effect of quantum interference in sequences of electric pulses, and show that quantum interference suppresses the entanglement entropy of the created quantum state. This is potentially relevant to quantum-enhanced classical communications. Our results can be extended to a wide variety of two-level quantum systems.

DOI
10.1103/physrevd.108.l031901

Related papers

Quantum Entanglement Dynamics in Electron-Positron Pair Production Under Time-Dependent Electromagnetic Fields

Deepak Sah

Quantum entanglement, a defining feature of quantum theory, is generated dynamically by the Schwinger effect—the production of particle-antiparticle pairs from a strong electric field. In this work, we go beyond traditional particle-number analyses to study the quantum entanglement gen- erated in this process. We partition the system into momentum modes and calculate entanglement entropy and logarithmic negativity as functions of time. For a single Sauter pulse, entanglement exhibits a monotonic growth that closely tracks the pair creation process. Strikingly, a train of alternating pulses induces coherent interference, leading to a cumulative enhancement of entan- glement and revealing a clear interplay between successive creation events. Most significantly, we show that the temporal delay (𝑇) between pulses acts as a tunable parameter, controlling the level of entanglement via constructive or destructive interference. This tunability provides a distinct sig- nature of vacuum memory, establishing pair production as a platform for entanglement-controlled strong-field physics.

QCD at the Extremes (QCDEX)•Nov 20, 2025•0 citations

Schwinger effect of a relativistic boson entangled with a qubit

Yujie Li, Qingqing Mao, Yu Shi

We use the concept of quantum entanglement to analyze the Schwinger effect on an entangled state of a qubit and a boson mode coupled with the electric field. As a consequence of the Schwinger production of particle-antiparticle pairs, the electric field decreases both the correlation and the entanglement between the qubit and the particle mode. This work exposes a profound difference between bosons and fermions. In the boson case, entanglement between the qubit and the antiparticle mode cannot be caused by the Schwinger effect on the preexisting entanglement between the qubit and the particle mode, though correlation can. In the fermion case, both can.

arXiv:1812.08534•Physical Review A•Mar 25, 2019•15 citations

Vacuum entanglement in a time-dependent electric field

Álvaro Álvarez-Domínguez, Luis J. Garay, Mercedes Martín-Benito +1 more

We analyze the correlations of the vacuum state of a charged scalar field by constructing localized observables in two disjoint regions. We consider a time-dependent homogeneous electric field and examine the time evolution of correlations by relating it with the particle-antiparticle creation through the Schwinger effect. Our results show that the electric field increases the mixedness of the states and enhances total correlations, while the distillable entanglement among the regions decreases, vanishing at a finite time for sufficiently intense pulses within the non-perturbative pair-production regime. We also discuss the effect of anisotropy induced by the external background, showing that the distribution of correlations acquires a nontrivial directional dependence.

quant-pharXiv:2610.01394•Oct 2, 2026

Dynamic entanglement for continuous variables in an electric field background

Shu-Min Wu, Jinxuan Li, Xiaowei Fan +3 more

Abstract Quantum entanglement is a typical nonclassical correlation. Here, we use this concept to analyze quantum entanglement for continuous variables generated by the Schwinger pair production for constant and pulsed electric fields. An initial two-mode entangled state evolves into a three-mode entangled state through a Gaussian channel of the Schwinger effect, which encodes the information about the Schwinger effect. By detecting the entanglement of the output three-mode state, we obtain the optimal parameters for easier to generate particle–antiparticle pairs. We find that the generated 1 → 2 entanglement is more sensitive to the parameters than the generated 1 → 1 entanglement. Therefore, we should choose the generated 1 → 2 entanglement to extract information. We argue that extracting the optimal parameters from quantum entanglement may guide future experiments.

Communications in Theoretical Physics•May 11, 2023•1 citation

Symmetry resolved entanglement in Schwinger pair production

Wajid Joyia, S. M. Al-Marzoug, Amaria Javed

We study the charge resolved structure of the pairwise mode entanglement produced by the Schwinger effect. Using the $U(1)$ electric charge of quantum electrodynamics, we decompose the entanglement of the reduced density matrices of momentum modes into individual charge sectors, applying the symmetry resolved entanglement entropy to the pure bipartition reductions and the charge imbalance resolved negativity to the mixed particle-antiparticle pair. For a constant electric field we obtain closed form results for every mode pairing, with all field dependence controlled by the single pair production probability $|β|^2=e^{-πμ}$. For the particle, particle and antiparticle antiparticle pairs the entanglement entropy within each charge sector is field independent, so that the field acts only by redistributing statistical weight among the sectors; for the mixed particle antiparticle pair the populated sector additionally carries a field dependent entropy. The vacuum created pair is the richest case: its resolved negativity is distributed over three imbalance sectors and is transported from one sector to the next as the field increases, the sectors contributing equally only at the critical field. The entanglement across a fixed momentum bipartition, by contrast, is frozen at its initial value because pair creation conserves the sector charge. Symmetry resolution thus refines the total entanglement measures into a sector resolved picture, exposing where in charge space the entanglement of the Schwinger mechanism resides and how the electric field moves it, information beyond that contained in the total measures or in particle number distributions.

quant-pharXiv:2610.04513•Oct 6, 2026

Sauter–Schwinger effect with a quantum gas

A. Piñeiro, Dina Genkina, Mingwu Lu +1 more

Abstract The creation of particle–antiparticle pairs from vacuum by a large electric field is at the core of quantum electrodynamics. Despite the wide acceptance that this phenomenon occurs naturally when electric field strengths exceed E c ≈ 1018 V m−1, it has yet to be experimentally observed due to the limitations imposed by producing electric fields at this scale. The high degree of experimental control present in ultracold atomic systems allow experimentalists to create laboratory analogs to high-field phenomena. Here we emulated massive relativistic particles subject to large electric field strengths, thereby quantum-simulated particle–antiparticle pair creation, and experimentally explored particle creation from ‘the Dirac vacuum’. Data collected from our analog system spans the full parameter regime from low applied field (negligible pair creation) below the Sauter–Schwinger limit, to high field (maximum rate of pair creation) far in excess of the Sauter–Schwinger limit. In our experiment, we perform direct measurements on an analog atomic system and show that this high-field phenomenon is well-characterized by Landau–Zener tunneling, well known in the atomic physics context, and we find full quantitative agreement with theory with no adjustable parameters.

New Journal of Physics•Aug 1, 2019•16 citations
The Schwinger process in strong electric fields creates particles and antiparticles that are entangled. The entropy of entanglement between particles and antiparticles has been found to be equal to the statistical Gibbs entropy of the produced system. Here we study the effect of quantum interference in sequences of electric pulses, and show that quantum interference suppresses the entanglement entropy of the created quantum state. This is potentially relevant to quantum-enhanced classical communications. Our results can be extended to a wide variety of two-level quantum systems.
Quantum entanglement, a defining feature of quantum theory, is generated dynamically by the Schwinger effect—the production of particle-antiparticle pairs from a strong electric field. In this work, we go beyond traditional particle-number analyses to study the quantum entanglement gen- erated in this process. We partition the system into momentum modes and calculate entanglement entropy and logarithmic negativity as functions of time. For a single Sauter pulse, entanglement exhibits a monotonic growth that closely tracks the pair creation process. Strikingly, a train of alternating pulses induces coherent interference, leading to a cumulative enhancement of entan- glement and revealing a clear interplay between successive creation events. Most significantly, we show that the temporal delay (𝑇) between pulses acts as a tunable parameter, controlling the level of entanglement via constructive or destructive interference. This tunability provides a distinct sig- nature of vacuum memory, establishing pair production as a platform for entanglement-controlled strong-field physics.
We use the concept of quantum entanglement to analyze the Schwinger effect on an entangled state of a qubit and a boson mode coupled with the electric field. As a consequence of the Schwinger production of particle-antiparticle pairs, the electric field decreases both the correlation and the entanglement between the qubit and the particle mode. This work exposes a profound difference between bosons and fermions. In the boson case, entanglement between the qubit and the antiparticle mode cannot be caused by the Schwinger effect on the preexisting entanglement between the qubit and the particle mode, though correlation can. In the fermion case, both can.
We analyze the correlations of the vacuum state of a charged scalar field by constructing localized observables in two disjoint regions. We consider a time-dependent homogeneous electric field and examine the time evolution of correlations by relating it with the particle-antiparticle creation through the Schwinger effect. Our results show that the electric field increases the mixedness of the states and enhances total correlations, while the distillable entanglement among the regions decreases, vanishing at a finite time for sufficiently intense pulses within the non-perturbative pair-production regime. We also discuss the effect of anisotropy induced by the external background, showing that the distribution of correlations acquires a nontrivial directional dependence.
Abstract Quantum entanglement is a typical nonclassical correlation. Here, we use this concept to analyze quantum entanglement for continuous variables generated by the Schwinger pair production for constant and pulsed electric fields. An initial two-mode entangled state evolves into a three-mode entangled state through a Gaussian channel of the Schwinger effect, which encodes the information about the Schwinger effect. By detecting the entanglement of the output three-mode state, we obtain the optimal parameters for easier to generate particle–antiparticle pairs. We find that the generated 1 → 2 entanglement is more sensitive to the parameters than the generated 1 → 1 entanglement. Therefore, we should choose the generated 1 → 2 entanglement to extract information. We argue that extracting the optimal parameters from quantum entanglement may guide future experiments.
We study the charge resolved structure of the pairwise mode entanglement produced by the Schwinger effect. Using the U(1)U(1)U(1) electric charge of quantum electrodynamics, we decompose the entanglement of the reduced density matrices of momentum modes into individual charge sectors, applying the symmetry resolved entanglement entropy to the pure bipartition reductions and the charge imbalance resolved negativity to the mixed particle-antiparticle pair. For a constant electric field we obtain closed form results for every mode pairing, with all field dependence controlled by the single pair production probability ∣β∣2=e−πμ|β|^2=e^{-πμ}∣β∣2=e−πμ. For the particle, particle and antiparticle antiparticle pairs the entanglement entropy within each charge sector is field independent, so that the field acts only by redistributing statistical weight among the sectors; for the mixed particle antiparticle pair the populated sector additionally carries a field dependent entropy. The vacuum created pair is the richest case: its resolved negativity is distributed over three imbalance sectors and is transported from one sector to the next as the field increases, the sectors contributing equally only at the critical field. The entanglement across a fixed momentum bipartition, by contrast, is frozen at its initial value because pair creation conserves the sector charge. Symmetry resolution thus refines the total entanglement measures into a sector resolved picture, exposing where in charge space the entanglement of the Schwinger mechanism resides and how the electric field moves it, information beyond that contained in the total measures or in particle number distributions.
Abstract The creation of particle–antiparticle pairs from vacuum by a large electric field is at the core of quantum electrodynamics. Despite the wide acceptance that this phenomenon occurs naturally when electric field strengths exceed E c ≈ 1018 V m−1, it has yet to be experimentally observed due to the limitations imposed by producing electric fields at this scale. The high degree of experimental control present in ultracold atomic systems allow experimentalists to create laboratory analogs to high-field phenomena. Here we emulated massive relativistic particles subject to large electric field strengths, thereby quantum-simulated particle–antiparticle pair creation, and experimentally explored particle creation from ‘the Dirac vacuum’. Data collected from our analog system spans the full parameter regime from low applied field (negligible pair creation) below the Sauter–Schwinger limit, to high field (maximum rate of pair creation) far in excess of the Sauter–Schwinger limit. In our experiment, we perform direct measurements on an analog atomic system and show that this high-field phenomenon is well-characterized by Landau–Zener tunneling, well known in the atomic physics context, and we find full quantitative agreement with theory with no adjustable parameters.