The majority of current understanding of the quantum correlations is in the field of non-relativistic quantum mechanics. To develop quantum information and computation tasks fully, one must inevitably take into account the relativistic effects. In this regard, the spin is one of the central tools. For this purpose, it is of paramount importance to understand and characterize fully the theory of spin in relativistic quantum information theory where the spin states act as qubit. This area is still far from being resolved. As a result, this article will explore the recent studies of the concepts of the spin and spin quantum correlations in inertial frames and some apparent paradoxes regarding this concept. We will mainly focus on the problem of characterizing the spin, reduced spin density matrices and spin quantum correlations in inertial reference frames and the apparent paradoxes involved therein. Another important aspect is the use of tools of quantum field theory to extend several concepts in non-relativistic domain to relativistic one. In this regard, we analyze the development of the theory of relativistic secret sharing and a correlation measure namely the entanglement of purification.
The majority of current understanding of the quantum correlations is in the field of non-relativistic quantum mechanics. To develop quantum information and computation tasks fully, one must inevitably take into account the relativistic effects. In this regard, the spin is one of the central tools. For this purpose, it is of paramount importance to understand and characterize fully the theory of spin in relativistic quantum information theory where the spin states act as qubit. This area is still far from being resolved. As a result, this article will explore the recent studies of the concepts of the spin and spin quantum correlations in inertial frames and some apparent paradoxes regarding this concept. We will mainly focus on the problem of characterizing the spin, reduced spin density matrices and spin quantum correlations in inertial reference frames and the apparent paradoxes involved therein. Another important aspect is the use of tools of quantum field theory to extend several concepts in non-relativistic domain to relativistic one. In this regard, we analyze the development of the theory of relativistic secret sharing and a correlation measure namely the entanglement of purification.
One of the most fundamental phenomena of quantum physics is entanglement. It describes an inseparable connection between quantum systems, and properties thereof. In a quantum mechanical description even systems far apart from each other can share a common state. This entanglement of the subsystems, although arising from mathematical principles, is no mere abstract concept, but can be tested in experiment, and be utilized in modern quantum information theory procedures, such as quantum teleportation. In particular, entangled states play a crucial role in testing our understanding of reality, by violating Bell inequalities. While the role of entanglement is well studied in the realm of nonrelativistic quantum mechanics, its significance in a relativistic quantum theory is a relatively new field of interest. In this work the consequences of a relativistic description of quantum entanglement are discussed. We analyze the representations of the symmetry groups of special relativity, i.e. of the Lorentz group, and the Poincaré group, on the Hilbert space of states. We describe how unitary, irreducible representations of the Poincaré group for massive spin 1/2 particles are constructed from representations of Wigner's little group. We then proceed to investigate the role of the Wigner rotations in the transformation of quantum states under a change of inertial reference frame. Considering different partitions of the Hilbert space of 2 particles, we find that the entanglement of the quantum states appears different in different inertial frames, depending on the form of the states, the chosen inertial frames, and the particular choice of partition. It is explained, how, despite of this, the maximally possible violation of Bell inequalities is frame independent, when using appropriate spin observables, which are related to the Pauli-Ljubanski vector, a Casimir operator of the Poincaré group.
One of the defining features of quantum theory is entanglement, the notion that quantum systems can display correlations that are impossible from the classical \npoint of view. In quantum information theory entanglement has come to be recognised as a physical resource that enables new technologies that perform information \nprocessing tasks which are beyond the limits of the classical realm. It has been realised only recently that entanglement is dependent on the frame of reference in \nboth inertial and accelerated systems. In this thesis, we investigate the relativistic entanglement of massive spin-1=2 particles in inertial frames by focussing on the \ndependence of entanglement on the geometry of the underlying boost scenario. We first explore the ‘qubit’ of the relativistic setting: a single particle with spin and momentum, with momentum given by a Gaussian distribution. We study the system in a variety of different boost scenarios, analysing the behaviour of entanglement \nfrom a geometric point of view. The spin-spin entanglement of two particle systems is then surveyed for many different discrete product and entangled momenta, with the spins in the Werner state. We also extend the analysis to continuous momentum states and study them in a variety of geometries. The results obtained from the analysis of discrete states are applied to continuous states, leading to a better \nunderstanding of the behaviour of entanglement. We lastly discuss the common view according to which Lorentz boosts leave the total entanglement of the state invariant.
Recently relativistic quantum information has received considerable attention due to its theoretical importance and practical application. In particular, quantum entanglement in non-inertial reference frames has been studied for scalar and Dirac fields. As a further step along this line, we here shall investigate quantum entanglement of electromagnetic field in non-inertial reference frames. In particular, the entanglement of the photon helicity entangled state is extensively analysed. Interestingly, the resultant logarithmic negativity and mutual information remain the same as those for inertial reference frames, which is completely different from that previously obtained for the particle number entangled state.
Quantum mechanics, which describes the behaviour of matter and energy on very small scales, is one of the most successful theories in the history of science. Einstein's theory of special relativity, which describes the relationship between space and time, is likewise a highly successful and widely accepted theory. And yet there is a well-documented tension between the two theories, to the extent that it is still not clear that the two can ever be reconciled. This thesis is concerned with furthering the current understanding of the relationship between quantum mechanics and special relativity. In the first part of the thesis we study the behaviour of quantum information in relativistic spacetime. The field of quantum information arose from the realisation that quantum information has a number of crucial properties that distinguish it from classical information, such as the no-cloning property, quantum contextuality, and quantum discord. More recently, it has been realised that placing quantum information under relativistic constraints leads to the emergence of further unique features which are not exhibited by either non-relativistic quantum information or relativistic classical information; as part of this ongoing research programme we develop a new relativistic quantum `paradox' which puts pressure on conventional views about the spatiotemporal persistence of quantum states over time. We then study a new set of relativistic quantum protocols which involve the distribution of entangled states over spacetime, defining one task involving the distribution of the two halves of a known entangled state, and another task involving the distribution of the two halves of an unknown entangled state. The second part of the thesis deals with relativistic quantum cryptography, a field which first began attracting serious attention when it was realised that a cryptographic task known as `bit commitment,' can be implemented with perfect security under relativistic constraints. This result was highly significant, since it is provably impossible to implement bit commitment with perfect security in a purely classical or purely quantum context, and hence bit commitment is an ideal starting point for probing the power of relativistic quantum cryptography. In this thesis we propose several new relativistic quantum bit commitment protocols which have notable advantages over previously known protocols. We then move to a related task, a generalization of zero-knowledge proving which we refer to as knowledge-concealing evidencing of knowledge of a quantum state; we prove no-go theorems concerning the possibility of implementing this task with perfect security, and then set out a relativistic protocol for the task which is asymptotically secure as the dimension of the state in question becomes large. These results have interesting foundational significance above and beyond their applications in the field of cryptography, providing a new perspective on the connections between knowledge, realism and quantum states.
Recently, there has been increased interest in understanding entanglement and quantum communication in black hole spacetimes and in using quantum information techniques to address questions in gravity. Studies on relativistic entanglement show the emergence of conceptually important qualitative differences to a non-relativistic treatment. For instance, entanglement was found to be an observer-dependent property that changes from the perspective of accelerated observers moving in flat spacetime. Relativisitic quantum information theory uses well-known tools coming from quantum information and quantum optics to study quantum effects provoked by gravity to learn information about the spacetime. We can take advantage of our knowledge about quantum correlations and effects produced by the gravitational interaction to set the basis for experimental proposals ultimately aiming at finding corrections due to quantum gravity effects, too mild to be directly observed. This doctoral thesis dissertation summarises most of the research carried out during my PhD on this topic.
This thesis is a compilation of research in relativistic quantum information theory, and research in quantum reference frames. The research in the former category provides a fundamental construction of quantum information theory of localised qubits in curved spacetimes. For example, this concerns quantum experiments on free-space photons and electrons in the vicinity of the Earth. From field theory a description of localised qubits that traverse classical trajectories in curved spacetimes is obtained, for photons and massive spin-1/2 fermions. The equations governing the evolution of the two-dimensional quantum state and its absolute phase are determined. Quantum information theory of these qubits is then developed. The Stern-Gerlach measurement formalism for massive spin-1/2 fermions is also derived from field theory. In the latter category of research, the process of changing reference frames is considered for the case where the reference frames are quantum systems. As part of this process, it is shown that decoherence is necessarily induced on any quantum system described relative to these frames. This process is explored using examples involving quantum reference frames for phase and orientation. Quantifying the effect of changing quantum reference frames provides a theoretical description for this process in quantum experiments, and serves as a first step in developing a relativity principle for theories in which all objects including reference frames are necessarily quantum.