R. G. Herb Condensed Matter Seminar

Can the Moon affect entanglement transfer?

Date: Thursday, April 29th

Time: 10:00 am

Place: 5310 Chamberlin

Speaker: Joseph H. Eberly, University of Rochester

Abstract: Surprises have emerged from studies of entanglement evolution in quantum theory, and counter-intuitive predictions [1] have been confirmed in experiment [2]. It is implicit in most analyses of entanglement evolution that the observer is all-powerful and able to determine a system state completely, but this is usually not true. One reason is that all aspects of a party's quantum state typically cannot be identified. Unknown and non-interacting external parties are typically not mentioned, excluded from view even if entangled with the system of interest. We will refer to this always-present but hidden and non-interacting background universe as the "Moon", and will present a sample sketch showing the effect of this Moon on entanglement evolution.

[1] See the review: T. Yu and J.H. Eberly, Science 323, 598 (2009).

[2] M. P. Almeida, F. de Melo, M. Hor-Meyll, A. Salles, S.P. Walborn, P.H. Souto-Ribeiro and L. Davidovich, Science 316, 579 (2007).

Host: Robert Joynt

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