This essay was completed as partial fulfillment of the requirements forthe MASt in Applied Mathematics degree (Part III of the Mathemat-ical Tripos) carried out at the DAMPT, Cambridge. After reviewingthe essentials of C*-algebras and von Neumann algebras, we present theMurray–von Neumann classification of factors into types I, II and III.We then introduce the algebraic approach to Quantum Field Theory(QFT) and discuss existing arguments for the association of type IIIalgebras to local regions of spacetime. We explain why, as a conse-quence, the entanglement entropy of a region is not well defined, andhow relative entropy offers an alternative, reviewing the fundamentalsof entanglement entropy in QFT. Finally, we see how including grav-ity turns the algebra of observables outside a black hole into one oftype II∞, where a well-defined notion of entropy can be recovered. This work should be regarded as introductory notes to operator al-gebras with a particular emphasis on their applications in theoreticalphysics. They are intended to synthesize the mathematical content fora physics-oriented audience, using worked-out examples throughout toset a foundation and gradually build up to some direct examples of theusage of the framework. They are aimed at advanced undergraduatestudents or early postgraduate students, and only some basic knowl-edge on quantum mechanics, QFT, group theory and linear algebra areassumed
This essay was completed as partial fulfillment of the requirements forthe MASt in Applied Mathematics degree (Part III of the Mathemat-ical Tripos) carried out at the DAMPT, Cambridge. After reviewingthe essentials of C*-algebras and von Neumann algebras, we present theMurray–von Neumann classification of factors into types I, II and III.We then introduce the algebraic approach to Quantum Field Theory(QFT) and discuss existing arguments for the association of type IIIalgebras to local regions of spacetime. We explain why, as a conse-quence, the entanglement entropy of a region is not well defined, andhow relative entropy offers an alternative, reviewing the fundamentalsof entanglement entropy in QFT. Finally, we see how including grav-ity turns the algebra of observables outside a black hole into one oftype II∞, where a well-defined notion of entropy can be recovered. This work should be regarded as introductory notes to operator al-gebras with a particular emphasis on their applications in theoreticalphysics. They are intended to synthesize the mathematical content fora physics-oriented audience, using worked-out examples throughout toset a foundation and gradually build up to some direct examples of theusage of the framework. They are aimed at advanced undergraduatestudents or early postgraduate students, and only some basic knowl-edge on quantum mechanics, QFT, group theory and linear algebra areassumed
Quantum Field Theory (QFT) represents a vast generalization of Quantum Mechanics (QM), as it deals with systems that have an infinite number of degrees of freedom. The Stone-von Neumann theorem, which establishes the equivalence of irreducible representations of the canonical commutation relations (CCR) in QM, does not extend to QFT. Consequently, QFT admits multiple inequivalent irreducible representations, leading to a much richer algebraic structure. This essay aims to explore the physics of QFT from the operator algebra perspective, particularly focusing on entanglement entropy. We discuss the role of von Neumann algebras of different types in QFT, describe the local operator algebra approach to QFT, and explain how entanglement entropy can be defined in terms of the algebra of observables. Additionally, we explore the benefits of this approach in concrete applications, specifically in quantum field theory on curved spacetime.
In this thesis, we study aspects of entanglement theory of quantum field theories from an algebraic point of view. The main motivation is to gain insights about the general structure of the entanglement in QFT, towards a definition of an entropic version of QFT. In the opposite direction, we are also interested in exploring any consequence of the entanglement in algebraic QFT. This may help us to reveal unknown features of QFT, with the final aim of finding a dynamical principle which allows us to construct non-trivial and rigorous models of QFT. The algebraic approach is the natural framework to define and study entanglement in QFT, and hence, to pose the above inquiries. After a self-contained review of algebraic QFT and quantum information theory in operator algebras, we focus on our results. We compute, in a mathematically rigorous way, exact solutions of entanglement measures and modular Hamiltonians for specific QFT models, using algebraic tools from modular theory of von Neumann algebras. These calculations show explicitly non-local features of modular Hamiltonians and help us to solve ambiguities that arise in other non-rigorous computations. We also study aspects of entanglement entropy in theories having superselection sectors coming from global symmetries. We follow the algebraic perspective of Doplicher, Haag, and Roberts. In this way, we find an entropic order parameter that "measures" the size of the symmetry group, which is made out of a difference of two mutual informations. Moreover, we identify the main operators that take account of such a difference, and we obtain a new quantum information quantity, the entropic certainty relation, involving algebras containing such operators. This certainty relation keeps an intrinsic connection with subfactor theory of von Neumann algebras.
Entanglement has long been the subject of discussion by philosophers of quantum theory, and has recently come to play an essential role for physicists in their development of quantum information theory. In this paper we show how the formalism of algebraic quantum field theory (AQFT) provides a rigorous framework within which to analyze entanglement in the context of a fully relativistic formulation of quantum theory. What emerges from the analysis are new practical and theoretical limitations on an experimenter’s ability to perform operations on a field in one spacetime region that can disentangle its state from the state of the field in other spacelike-separated regions. These limitations show just how deeply entrenched entanglement is in relativistic quantum field theory, and yield a fresh perspective on the ways in which the theory differs conceptually from both standard nonrelativistic quantum theory and classical relativistic field theory. “...despite its conservative way of dealing with physical principles, algebraic QFT leads to a radical change of paradigm. Instead of the Newtonian view of a space-time filled with a material content one enters the reality of Leibniz created by relation (in particular inclusions) between ‘monads ’ (∼ the hyperfinite type III1 local von Neumann factors A(O) which as single algebras are nearly void of physical meaning) ” Schroer (1998, p. 302).
In quantum mechanics, states can exhibit entanglement. Entanglement is a property referring to correlations between the measurement outcomes associated with different parts of a quantum system. The usual von Neumann entanglement entropy quantifies this property using a tensor product factorization of the Hilbert space, but such a factorization is not naturally available in many physical systems. Algebraic entanglement entropy generalizes this construction by defining the accessible part of a system through a von Neumann algebra of observables which, in general, induces a direct sum of tensor products. This thesis develops the mathematical and operational framework for algebraic entanglement entropy and applies it to the finite-𝑁 single Hermitian matrix model, with particular attention given to the singlet and adjoint sectors. Explicit computations for several 𝑁 = 2 matrix quantum harmonic oscillator eigenstates demonstrate that the method applies consistently to both sectors and produces distinct entanglement entropies for their different wavefunction structures
One of von Neumann’s motivations for developing the theory of operator algebras and his and Murray’s 1936 classification of factors was the question of possible decompositions of quantum systems into independent parts. For quantum systems with a finite number of degrees of freedom the simplest possibility, i.e., factors of type I in the terminology of Murray and von Neumann, are perfectly adequate. In relativistic quantum field theory (RQFT), on the other hand, factors of type III occur naturally. The same holds true in quantum statistical mechanics of infinite systems. In this brief review some physical consequences of the type III property of the von Neumann algebras corresponding to localized observables in RQFT and their difference from the type I case will be discussed. The cumulative effort of many people over more than 30 years has established a remarkable uniqueness result: The local algebras in RQFT are generically isomorphic to the unique, hyperfinite type III1 factor in Connes ’ classification of 1973. Specific theories are characterized by the net structure of the collection of these isomorphic algebras for different space-time regions, i.e., the way they are embedded into each other. John von Neumann was the father of the Hilbert space formulation of quantum mechanics [1] that has been the basis of almost all mathematically rigorous investigations of the theory to this day. We start by recalling the main concepts and explaining some notations.
An early result of algebraic quantum field theory is that the algebra of any subregion in a QFT is a von Neumann factor of type III _{1} 1 , in which entropy cannot be well-defined because such algebras do not admit a trace or density states. However, associated to the algebra is a modular group of automorphisms characterizing the local dynamics of degrees of freedom in the region, and the crossed product of the algebra with its modular group yields a type II _∞ ∞ factor, in which traces and hence von Neumann entropy can be well-defined. In this work, we generalize recent constructions of the crossed product algebra for the TFD to, in principle, arbitrary spacetime regions in arbitrary QFTs, formally paving the way to the study of entanglement entropy without UV divergences. In contrast to previous works, we emphasize that this construction is independent of gravity. In this sense, the crossed product construction represents a refinement of Haag’s assignment of nets of observable algebras to spacetime regions by providing a natural construction of a type II factor. We present several concrete examples: a QFT in Rindler space, a CFT in an open ball of Minkowski space, and arbitrary boundary subregions in AdS/CFT. In the holographic setting, we provide a novel argument for why the bulk dual must be the entanglement wedge, and discuss the distinction arising from boundary modular flow between causal and entanglement wedges for excited states and disjoint regions.