Entanglement Theory

Jonathan G. Richens, John H. Selby, Sabri W. Al-Safi

One of the most striking features of quantum theory is the existence of entangled states, responsible for Einstein's so called "spooky action at a distance." These states emerge from the mathematical formalism of quantum theory, but to date we do not have a clear idea of the physical principles that give rise to entanglement. Why does nature have entangled states? Would any theory superseding classical theory have entangled states, or is quantum theory special? One important feature of quantum theory is that it has a classical limit, recovering classical theory through the process of decoherence. We show that any theory with a classical limit must contain entangled states, thus establishing entanglement as an inevitable feature of any theory superseding classical theory.

Jens Eisert, Martin Bodo Plenio

We outline the basic questions that are being studied in any theory of entanglement. Following a brief review of some of the main achievements of entanglement theory for finite-dimensional systems such as qubits, we will then consider entanglement in infinite-dimensional systems. Asking for a theory of entanglement in such systems under experimentally feasible operations leads to the development of the theory of entanglement of Gaussian states. Results of this theory are presented and the tools that have been developed for this theory are then applied to a number of problems.

Charles Rabideau

The holographic Ryu-Takayanagi formula for entanglement entropy connects the entanglement of a field theory to the geometry of a dual gravitational theory in a straightforward and universal way. The first part of this thesis applies this formula to study the entanglement entropy in strongly coupled noncommutative field theories. It is found that the ground state of these theories have substantial entanglement at the length scale of the noncommutativity. The entanglement entropy in a different perturbative regime is also computed, where in contrast it is found that noncommutative interactions do not induce long range entanglement in the ground state to leading order in perturbations theory. The second part of this thesis explores some general consequences of this holographic formula for the entanglement entropy. Identities involving entanglement entropies are related to nontrivial geometric constraints on gravitational duals. In particular, the strong subadditivity of entanglement entropy is used to show that dual three dimensional asymptotically anti-de Sitter gravitational states must obey an averaged null energy condition. Finally, this holographic formula allows us at least in principle to express the entanglement entropy of a region in a holographic field theory in terms of the one-point functions in that theory. This is explored in the context of a two dimensional conformal field theory where explicit calculations are possible. Our results in this case allow us to extend a recent proposal that the entanglement entropy of states near the vacuum of conformal theories can be understood by propagation in an auxiliary de Sitter space.

Fuli Li, Muhammad Suhail Zubairy