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arXiv:2405.05756

Everything is Entangled in Quantum Mechanics: Are the Orthodox Measures Physically Meaningful?

Christian DE RONDE, Raimundo Fernández Mouján, César Massri

Published May 9, 2024• 0 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Even though quantum entanglement is today's most essential concept within the new technological era of quantum information processing, we do not only lack a consistent definition of this kernel notion, we are also far from understanding its physical meaning [35]. These failures have lead to many problems when attempting to provide a consistent measure or quantification of entanglement. In fact, the two main lines of contemporary research within the orthodox literature have created mazes where inconsistencies and problems are found everywhere. While the operational-instrumentalist approach has failed to explain how inequalities are able to distinguish the classical from the quantum, the geometrical approach has failed to provide a consistent meaningful account of their entropic measure. Taking distance from orthodoxy, in this work we address the quantification and measure of quantum entanglement by considering a recently presented objective-invariant definition in terms of the coding of intensive relations [21] which allows to escape the widespread relativist account of bases and factorizations [24, 25]. Going beyond the orthodox dualistic reference to "quantum particles" and "clicks" in detectors, we will argue that this new line of research is capable not only to evade the many open problems which appear within the mainstream literature, but is also able to present a consistent and coherent physical understanding of entanglement. The main conclusion of this work is that in quantum mechanics -- contrary to what is generally presupposed -- all operational expressions found within the laboratory are intrinsically entangled.

DOI
10.48550/arxiv.2405.05756

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In this paper we we will argue against the orthodox definition of quantum entanglement which has been implicitly grounded on several widespread (metaphysical) presuppositions which have no relation whatsoever to the formalism of QM. We will show how these presuppositions have been introduced through a naive interpretation of the quantum mathematical structure which assumes dogmatically that the theory talks about "small particles" represented by pure states (in general, superpositions) which suddenly "collapse" when a measurement takes place. In the second part of this paper we will present a non-collapse approach to QM which makes no use whatsoever of particle metaphysics, escaping the need to make reference to space-time separability or the restriction to certain predictions of definite valued binary properties. Our paper ends up concluding the essential need to redefine the notion of quantum entanglement, at least in the cases of: i) non-collapse interpretations of QM; or, ii) any other interpretation which abandons the idea that QM makes reference to "small particles".
In this paper we argue against the orthodox definition of quantum entanglement which has been explicitly grounded on several "common sense" (metaphysical) presuppositions and presents today serious formal and conceptual drawbacks. This interpretation which some researchers in the field call "minimal", has ended up creating a narrative according to which QM talks about "small particles" represented by pure states (in general, superpositions) which --each time someone attempts to observe what is going on-- suddenly "collapse" to a single measurement outcome. After discussing the consequences of applying 'particle metaphysics' within the definition of entanglement we turn our attention to two recent approaches which might offer an interesting way out of this metaphysical conundrum. Both approaches concentrate their efforts in going beyond the notion of 'system'. While the first, called device-independent approach, proposes an operational anti-metaphysical scheme in which language plays an essential role; the second approach, takes an essentially metaphysical path which attempts to present a new non-classical representation grounded on intensive relations which, in turn, imposes the need to reconsider the definition and meaning of quantum entanglement.
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Quantum effects and, in particular, entanglement are by now widely recognized in all areas of physics and related fields. However, we feel that the precise notion of entanglement---though mathematically well-defined---still generates confusion even in the academic environment. Our aim in this article is to point out and clarify some aspects of the notion of entanglement, in particular with respect to observable quantities. We do this by illustrating common misconceptions with Schrödinger's cat paradox, explain them in mathematical terms and provide examples where misunderstandings arise and how they can be solved.
In this paper we consider the notion of quantum entanglement from the perspective of the logos categorical approach [26, 27]. Firstly, we will argue that the widespread distinctions, on the one hand, between pure states and mixed states, and on the other, between separable states and entangled states, are completely superfluous when considering the orthodox mathematical formalism of QM. We will then argue that the introduction of these distinctions within the theory of quanta is due to another two completely unjustified metaphysical presuppositions, namely, the idea that there is a "collapse" of quantum states when being measured and the idea that QM talks about "elementary particles". At distance from these distinctions and taking the logos approach as a standpoint, we will propose an objective formal account of the notion of entanglement in terms of potential coding which introduces the necessary distinction between intensive relations and effective relations. We will also discuss how this new definition of entanglement provides an anschaulich content to this --supposedly "spooky"-- quantum relational feature.