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arXiv:2508.12497 · Physical review. D/Physical review. D.

Entanglement harvesting and curvature of entanglement: A modular operator approach

Rupak Chatterjee

Published Oct 16, 2025• 5 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

An operator-algebraic framework based on Tomita-Takesaki modular theory is used to study aspects of quantum entanglement via the application of the modular conjugation operator J . The entanglement structure of quantum fields is studied through the protocol of entanglement harvesting whereby quantum correlations evolve through the time evolution of qubit detectors coupled to a Bosonic field. Modular conjugation operators are constructed for Unruh-Dewitt type qubits interacting with a scalar field such that initially unentangled qubits become entangled. The entanglement harvested in this process is directly quantified by an expectation value involving J offering a physical application of this operator. The modular operator formalism is then extended to the Markovian open system dynamics of coupled qubits by expressing entanglement monotones as functionals of a state ρ and its modular reflection J ρ J . The second derivative of such functionals with respect to an external coupling parameter, termed the curvature of entanglement, provides a natural measure of entanglement sensitivity. At points of modular self-duality, the curvature of entanglement coincides with the quantum Fisher information measure. These results demonstrate that the modular conjugation operator J captures both the harvesting of entanglement from quantum fields and the curvature of entanglement in coupled qubit dynamics providing parallel modular structures that connect these systems.

DOI
10.1103/jjjg-6pht

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An operator-algebraic framework based on Tomita-Takesaki modular theory is used to study aspects of quantum entanglement via the application of the modular conjugation operator J . The entanglement structure of quantum fields is studied through the protocol of entanglement harvesting whereby quantum correlations evolve through the time evolution of qubit detectors coupled to a Bosonic field. Modular conjugation operators are constructed for Unruh-Dewitt type qubits interacting with a scalar field such that initially unentangled qubits become entangled. The entanglement harvested in this process is directly quantified by an expectation value involving J offering a physical application of this operator. The modular operator formalism is then extended to the Markovian open system dynamics of coupled qubits by expressing entanglement monotones as functionals of a state ρ and its modular reflection J ρ J . The second derivative of such functionals with respect to an external coupling parameter, termed the curvature of entanglement, provides a natural measure of entanglement sensitivity. At points of modular self-duality, the curvature of entanglement coincides with the quantum Fisher information measure. These results demonstrate that the modular conjugation operator J captures both the harvesting of entanglement from quantum fields and the curvature of entanglement in coupled qubit dynamics providing parallel modular structures that connect these systems.
The quantum entanglement measure of concurrence is shown to be directly calculable from a Tomita- Takesaki modular operator framework constructed from the local von Neumann algebras of observables for two quantum systems. Specifically, the Tomita-Takesaki modular conjugation operator JJJ that links two separate systems with respect to their von Neumann algebras is related to the quantum concurrence CCC of a pure bivariate entangled state composed from these systems. This concurrence relation provides a direct physical meaning to JJJ as both a symmetry operator and a quantitative measure of entanglement. This procedure is then demonstrated for a supersymmetric quantum mechanical system and a real scalar field interacting with two entangled spin-12\frac{1}{2}21​ Unruh-DeWitt qubit detectors. For the latter system, the concurrence result is shown to be consistent with some known results on the Bell-CHSH inequality for such a system.
We study entanglement harvesting in general ddd-dimensional conformal field theories using pointlike Unruh-DeWitt detectors coupled to scalar primary operators. This extends standard harvesting protocols beyond free fields to interacting conformal theories and arbitrary spatial dimensions. We find that increasing the operator scaling dimension suppresses both negativity and mutual information, reflecting the faster decay of correlations. For holographic CFTs, we show that bulk effective field theory enables a separation between field-harvested and communication-mediated entanglement. We also derive asymptotic, closed-form approximations that agree well with numerical results.
Abstract The modular operator approach of Tomita–Takesaki to von Neumann algebras is elucidated in the algebraic structure of certain supersymmetric (SUSY) quantum mechanical systems. A von Neumann algebra is constructed from the operators of the system. An explicit operator characterizing the dual infinite degeneracy structure of a SUSY two dimensional system is given by the modular conjugation operator. Furthermore, the entanglement of formation for these SUSY systems using concurrence is shown to be related to the expectation value of the modular conjugation operator in an entangled bi-partite supermultiplet state thus providing a direct physical meaning to this anti-unitary, anti-linear operator as a quantitative measure of entanglement. Finally, the theory is applied to the case of two-dimensional Dirac fermions, as is found in graphene, and a SUSY Jaynes Cummings model.
Entanglement harvesting provides an operational means of probing the nonlocal correlation structure of quantum fields through localized detector-field interactions. Although harvesting has been investigated in a wide variety of spacetime backgrounds and quantum field states, existing studies largely focus on individual detector configurations or specific physical settings. In this work, we develop a unified perturbative framework for entanglement harvesting with localized Unruh-DeWitt detectors that is applicable to arbitrary detector trajectories and quantum field states through the corresponding Wightman function. By expressing the detector response in terms of dimensionless variables and analytically reducing the perturbative integrals to numerically efficient representations, the framework enables a systematic exploration of multidimensional harvesting landscapes, phase boundaries, and harvesting robustness. As representative applications, we investigate inertial detectors in the Minkowski vacuum, thermal field states, and uniformly accelerated observers. We show that finite temperature enhances both the local detector response and the nonlocal exchange amplitude, leading, within the perturbative Gaussian-switching framework considered here, to an enlargement of the harvesting region in parameter space. The resulting harvesting landscapes provide a global characterization of detector-field interactions and demonstrate how temperature and observer motion reshape the competition between local detector noise and nonlocal field correlations. The framework developed here provides a unified and readily extensible methodology for investigating entanglement harvesting across a broad class of relativistic quantum systems.
We analyze correlations between pairs of detectors quadratically coupled to real and complex scalar bosonic fields in 3+1 dimensions. This is a first step toward studying the entanglement structure of the fermionic vacuum through the entanglement harvesting protocol. We find that, while a single quadratically coupled Unruh-DeWitt presents no divergences, when one considers pairs of detectors there emerge persistent divergences (not regularizable via smooth switching or smearing) in the entanglement they acquire \nfrom the field. These divergences were not anticipated in previous studies. We characterize the divergences, discuss whether a suitable regularization can allow for fair comparison of the entanglement harvesting ability of the quadratic and the linear couplings, and finally find a UV-safe quantifier of harvested correlations.
This preprint develops a rigorous operator-algebraic extension of Tomita-Takesaki modular theory to pseudo-Hermitian quantum field systems. We construct a twisted Tomita operator S_η for PT-symmetric fields equipped with a positive-definite metric operator η, establishing its closability and polar decomposition S_η = J_η Δ_η^(1/2) within the η-inner product GNS representation. The central result demonstrates that the twisted modular conjugation J_η squares not to the identity (as in standard theory) but to a non-trivial central unitary W = J_η², where W ∈ Z(A). We prove W is unitary and central using purely algebraic methods, generalizing the standard relation J² = I. A finite-dimensional construction explicitly exhibits W = -I for specific pseudo-Hermitian operator algebras, providing concrete evidence of this stable algebraic phase. This central modular phase represents an intrinsic degree of freedom absent in Hermitian quantum field theory, persisting under pseudo-Hermitian similarity transformations. We discuss potential physical implications, including connections to CP violation and baryon asymmetry, where the phase W may serve as an algebraic source of matter-antimatter asymmetry emerging from field algebra structure rather than explicit Lagrangian symmetry breaking. The framework maintains mathematical consistency with Tomita-Takesaki axioms while extending modular theory beyond Hermitian constraints. This work bridges pseudo-Hermitian similarity transformations and modular conjugation into unified algebraic language, opening directions for PT-symmetric quantum field theory and non-Hermitian approaches to fundamental physics. STATUS: Verison 1.0 and 2.0 completed rest will be available soon .