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The European Physical Journal D

Polarization correlation in the two-photon decay of atomic hydrogen: nonlocality versus entanglement

Thomas Radtke, A. Surzhykov, S. Fritzsche

Published Jul 11, 2008• 5 citations
Publisher

Abstract

From the work by Perrie et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 54, 1790 (1985)], photon pairs from the 2s 1/2 → 1s 1/2 (two-photon) decay of atomic hydrogen are known to be quantum mechanically correlated. In these experiments, the polarization states of the photons emitted in back-to-back geometry were shown to violate the Bell inequality as a qualitative sign of nonlocality and entanglement. In the present contribution, we analyze how these nonlocal quantum correlations, as given by the violation of the Bell inequality, differ from the concurrence as a true entanglement measure. Results are shown for both quantifiers in dependence of the decay geometry and the initial polarization of the atoms for the 2s 1/2 → 1s 1/2 and 3d 5/2 → 1s 1/2 two-photon decay of atomic hydrogen. These results display the difference between nonlocality and entanglement and, hence, may stimulate further experiments on nonlocal quantum correlations in atomic systems.

DOI
10.1140/epjd/e2008-00132-1

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From the work by Perrie et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 54, 1790 (1985)], photon pairs from the 2s 1/2 → 1s 1/2 (two-photon) decay of atomic hydrogen are known to be quantum mechanically correlated. In these experiments, the polarization states of the photons emitted in back-to-back geometry were shown to violate the Bell inequality as a qualitative sign of nonlocality and entanglement. In the present contribution, we analyze how these nonlocal quantum correlations, as given by the violation of the Bell inequality, differ from the concurrence as a true entanglement measure. Results are shown for both quantifiers in dependence of the decay geometry and the initial polarization of the atoms for the 2s 1/2 → 1s 1/2 and 3d 5/2 → 1s 1/2 two-photon decay of atomic hydrogen. These results display the difference between nonlocality and entanglement and, hence, may stimulate further experiments on nonlocal quantum correlations in atomic systems.
From the work by W. Perrie et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 54, 1790 (1985)], it is known that the photon pairs that are emitted in the $2{s}_{1∕2}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}1{s}_{1∕2}$ (two-photon) decay of atomic hydrogen are quantum mechanically correlated, i.e., entangled. However, less information is available about the degree of polarization entanglement between the two photons if an arbitrary geometry is considered for collecting the photons. In this paper, we study the effect of the decay geometry on the degree of polarization entanglement between the two emitted photons. Results are shown for the $2{s}_{1∕2}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}1{s}_{1∕2}$ and $3{d}_{5∕2}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}1{s}_{1∕2}$ two-photon transitions of atomic hydrogen. The outlined theory is general and can be applied also to heavier elements. To demonstrate the influence of relativistic and multipole effects, results are also shown for the $3{d}_{5∕2}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}1{s}_{1∕2}$ transition of hydrogenlike uranium.
We have applied the density matrix and second-order perturbation theory in order to re-analyze the two-photon decay of hydrogen-like ions for the polarization of emitted light. Special attention is paid to the linear polarization of one of the photons, while the spin state of the second photon is supposed to be unobserved. For such an “angle-polarization” correlation of the two photons we investigate the contributions that arise from non electric-dipole terms in the expansion of the electron-photon interaction. Detailed calculations are performed for the 2s 1/2 →1s 1/2 and 3d 5/2 →1s 1/2 transitions in neutral hydrogen as well as in hydrogen-like uranium.
EPR showed that two particles emitted from a source can be entangled by a shared wavefunction where two non-commuting observables (position, momentum) can be simultaneously real, leading to a contradiction with quantum mechanics (two non-commuting variables can not be simultaneously real). John Bell derived an inequality where any local hidden variables prediction is bounded and quantum mechanics can violate the inequality. Bell tests on correlated photon pairs showed a clear violation of the Bell inequality and agreement with quantum mechanics. This study revealed that the Bell inequality holds at any individual instances in a given system but it does not hold over the entire population. The Bell inequality is not an incompatibility criterion for local hidden variables vs quantum mechanics rather it is a criterion for an individual nature vs population dynamics. The nonlocality prediction given by wavefunction is a system approximation and local causality (photon polarization) provides a complete description of the Bell tests. The paper concludes with great satisfaction that the measurement of two correlated photons at a distance was a local cause (photon-filter interaction did not violate the special theory of relativity).
In derivating of Bell’s inequalities, the probability distribution is supposed to be a function only of a hidden variable. We point out that the true implication of the probability distribution of Bell’s correlation function is the distribution of joint measurement outcomes on the two sides. It is therefore a function of both the hidden variable and the settings. In this case, Bell’s inequalities fail. Our further analysis shows that Bell’s locality holds neither for dependent events nor for independent events. We think that the measurements of EPR pairs are dependent events, and hence violation of Bell’s inequalities cannot rule out the existence of local hidden variable. To explain the results of EPR-type experiments, we suppose that a polarization-entangled photon pair can be composed of two circularly or linearly polarized photons with correlated hidden variables, and a couple of experiments of quantum measurement are proposed. The first uses delayed measurement on one photon of the EPR pair to demonstrate directly whether measurement on the other could have any nonlocal influence on it. Then several experiments are suggested to reveal the components of the polarization-entangled photon pair. The last one uses successive polarization measurements on a pair of EPR photons to show that two photons with the same quantum state behave the same under the same measuring conditions.
This work presents a comprehensive study of quantum correlations and their degradation under environmental dephasing within the atomic hydrogen system. By analyzing the magnetic coupling between the electron and proton spins in the 1s hyperfine state, we elucidate how coherent spin interactions generate entangled states and govern their temporal evolution. The investigation focuses on three key measures of quantum correlations—Bell nonlocality, Einstein–Podolsky–Rosen (EPR) steering, and quantum purity—each reflecting a different level within the hierarchy of nonclassical correlations. Analytical formulations and numerical simulations reveal that, in the absence of decay, all quantities remain steady, indicating the preservation of coherence. When dephasing is introduced, each measure decays exponentially toward a stationary lower bound, with Bell nonlocality identified as the most fragile, followed by steering and purity. A three-dimensional analysis of Werner states under dephasing further establishes the critical purity thresholds required for Bell inequality violations. The results highlight the interdependence between magnetic coupling, decoherence, and initial entanglement, providing a unified framework for understanding correlation dynamics in open quantum systems. These findings have direct implications for the development of noise-resilient quantum information protocols and spin-based quantum technologies, where preserving nonlocal correlations is essential for reliable quantum operations.
We investigate the preservation and dynamics of entanglement and Bell nonlocality in a two-photon system subject to local dephasing, particularly emphasizing environments exhibiting non-Markovian memory effects. By analyzing the interplay between entanglement, as measured by concurrence, and Bell inequality violation, we identify time regions where Bell inequality is not violated, even when concurrence remains high. This indicates that strongly entangled states do not always exhibit nonclassical correlations with certainty. Our study further explores the effects of refractive index variations, spectral width, and interaction symmetry, demonstrating how structured environments and controlled environmental interactions can mitigate decoherence and enhance the resilience of quantum correlations. We propose that these theoretical predictions can be tested using modifications of recent experimental optical setups. These findings provide valuable insights into the conditions under which quantum correlations remain irreproducible by classical local hidden-variable models, with direct implications for quantum communication, quantum information processing, and foundational studies in quantum mechanics. Furthermore, our findings highlight the crucial importance of quantum coherence in maintaining entanglement and nonlocality over extended time evolution. These results show remarkable alignment with the experimental observations, demonstrating high accuracy and consistency within the expected parameter range.