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PHYSICAL REVIEW D 95, 105009 (2017) Degenerate detectors are unable to harvest spacelike entanglement Alejandro Pozas-Kerstjens,1 Jorma Louko,2 and Eduardo Martín-Martínez3,4,5,* 1ICFO-Institut de Ciencies Fotoniques, The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, 08860 Castelldefels (Barcelona), Spain 2School of Mathematical Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, United Kingdom 3Institute for Quantum Computing, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1, Canada 4Department of Applied Mathematics, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1, Canada 5Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, 31 Caroline Street North, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 2Y5, Canada (Received 8 March 2017; published 30 May 2017) Weshow,underaverygeneralsetofassumptions,thatpairsofidenticalparticledetectorsinspacelike separation,suchasatomicprobes,canonlyharvestentanglementfromthevacuumstateofaquantumfield when they have a nonzero energy gap. Furthermore, we show that degenerate probes are strongly challengedtobecomeentangledthroughtheirinteractionthroughscalarandelectromagneticfieldsevenin full light contact. We relate these results to previous literature on remote entanglement generation and entanglement harvesting, giving insight into the energy gap’s protective role against local noise, which prevents the detectors from getting entangled through the interaction with the field. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevD.95.105009 I. INTRODUCTION detectors have also been shown to display the same qualitative behavior when they harvest entanglement from Itiswellknownthatthegroundstateofaquantumfield the quantum field [13]. Along these lines, entanglement contains entanglement between different regions of space- harvesting is not a fragile phenomenon: it has been proven time. This is so even if the regions are spacelike separated robust against uncertainties in the synchronization and [1,2]. Moreover, this entanglement can be extracted (or spatial configuration of the particle detectors [14]. The harvested) into pairs of particle detectors through local variety of situations in which the phenomenon of entangle- interactions of each detector with the field (again, even in ment harvesting has been found relevant has motivated spacelike separation), leading to the entanglement of works analyzing the experimental feasibility of implement- initially uncorrelated detectors [3–5] even for arbitrary ing timelike and spacelike entanglement harvesting proto- spatial separation and smooth switching profiles [6]. cols in both atomic and superconducting systems [15–17]. Thisphenomenon,knownasentanglementharvesting,is Entanglement harvesting is affected by local noise. very sensitive to the properties of the spacetime back- For example, a sudden switching of the detector-field ground (e.g., its geometry [7] or its topology [8]). interaction (which locally excites the detectors) is ineffi- Entanglement harvesting has been proposed as a means cient for harvesting spacelike entanglement since the local tobuildsustainablesourcesofentanglement(viaentangle- noise overshadows the correlations harvested from the mentfarmingprotocols[9]),andhasbeenproventobevery field. In contrast, if the interaction is switched on adia- sensitive to the state of motion of the detectors and the batically, it has been shown that it is possible to harvest boundaryconditionsonthefieldonwhichitisperformed. entanglement with arbitrarily distant spacelike separated Thishasledtoproposalsofapplicationsinmetrologysuch detectors [6]. To harvest spacelike entanglement from asrangefinding[10]orasaverysensitivemeanstodetect arbitrarily long distances, the detectors’ energy gaps (the vibrational motion [11]. energy difference between ground and first excited state) Entanglement harvesting has been proven to be substan- havetobeincreasedproportionallytotheseparationofthe tially independent of the particular particle detector model detectors to shield them from local excitations that would employed: there are no notable qualitative differences overwhelmtheharvestingofcorrelations(seeRef.[18]for between simplified Unruh-DeWitt (UDW) models in its a thorough study). differentvariants.Namely,itwasshowninRef.[12]thatan It has been observed that temperature also prevents Unruh-DeWitt detector coupled to the amplitude or to the entanglement from being harvested [19], particularly for momentum of a scalar field yields qualitatively similar spacelike separation between the detectors. This can be results to those of a fully featured hydrogenlike atom understoodascausedbythedecayofquantumcorrelations coupled to the electromagnetic field. Harmonic oscillator in a quantum field with temperature. Remarkably, and in contrast to this, it was shown by *[email protected] Braun [20,21] that, even with zero energy gap, spin-1=2 2470-0010=2017=95(10)=105009(11) 105009-1 © 2017 American Physical Society POZAS-KERSTJENS, LOUKO, and MARTÍN-MARTÍNEZ PHYSICAL REVIEW D 95, 105009 (2017) systems in timelike separation could entangle through II. UNRUH-DEWITT DYNAMICS AND their interaction with thermal baths and quantum fields in ENTANGLEMENT HARVESTING thermal states. This mechanism was initially proposed as a In a typical scenario of entanglement harvesting [3,4], meansofcreatingentanglementbetweendistantparties[20], two localized quantum systems interact with the vacuum but a closer examination of the problem revealed that the state of a field. We model the interaction between an more interesting phenomenon of spacelike entanglement individual inertial smeared detector and a massless scalar harvesting—in which not even indirect communication field in an (nþ1)-dimensional flat spacetime with the through the field is possible and none of the detectors can UDWparticledetectormodel[22].Thismodelcapturesthe knowoftheexistenceoftheother—wasnotpossibleinthe fundamental features of the light-matter interaction in casesstudiedinRef.[21].Theseresultsraisethequestionof scenarios where angular momentum exchange does not whatisspecialintheregimesanalyzedinRefs.[20,21]that play a fundamental role [12,23,24]. More relevant to our preventsspacelikeentanglementharvesting.Inprinciple,and case, the UDW model has been explicitly proven to yield with no additional data, one could have thought of three qualitativelyidenticalresultsinentanglementharvestingto possible suspects for the lack of spacelike entanglement those with fully featured hydrogenoid atoms interacting harvesting in the setups in Refs. [20,21]: (1) the use of with the electromagnetic field (in particular, see Ref. [12] thermal backgrounds as opposed tothevacuumstate of the for this last claim). For technical reasons, we assume field, (2) the particular switching functions utilized (recall throughoutn≥2.Thecasen¼1wouldrequireadditional that switching can strongly influence the ability to harvest inputforhandlingthewell-knowninfrareddivergencesofa entanglement[5,6])or(3)thefactthat[20,21]onlyanalyze masslessfieldintwospacetimedimensions.Wemakesome degeneratetwo-levelsystems(withzerogapbetweenground explicitcommentsaboutthe 1þ1-dimensional casewhen and excited states). we discuss some of our results. In this paper we address this question and show that the The UDW interaction Hamiltonian is given by lack of spacelike entanglement harvesting is not due to thethermalbackgroundortothenatureoftheswitching.The Z X culpritisthegaplessnatureofthedetectors.Weprovethatit HˆðtÞ¼ λνXνðtÞ dnxSνðx−xνÞμˆνðtÞϕˆðt;xÞ: ð1Þ isimpossibleforapairofidenticalinertialgaplessdetectors ν to harvest any amount of entanglement from spacelike separatedregionseveninthevacuumstateofa scalarfield In this expression, the label ν∈fA;Bg identifies the inflatspacetime,andarguethattheproofshouldcarryoverto detectorandλν isthecouplingstrengthofdetectorνtothe thecaseofentanglementharvestingwithhydrogenlikeatoms scalar field ϕˆðt;xÞ. The field can be written as a sum of from the electromagnetic field [12]. plane-wave modes as After an introduction to the formalism of entanglement Z harvestingandthenotationtobeusedthroughoutthepaper in Sec. II, we divide the proof in two parts: in Sec. III we ϕˆðt;xÞ¼ pffiðffi2ffiffidffiπffinffiÞffikffinffiffi2ffiffiffijffikffiffijffiffi½aˆkeik·xþaˆ†ke−ik·x(cid:2); ð2Þ prove that when the time intervals of interaction of each individual detector with the field do not overlap, gapless detectorscannotharvest anyentanglementatall,regardless where aˆk and aˆ†k are bosonic annihilation and creation of their specific spatial shape, their relative separation (not operators of a field mode with momentum k, and only spacelike, but also timelike or lightlike) or the total k·x¼−jkjtþk·x. μˆνðtÞ is the monopole moment of amount of time of interaction with the field, and then in detector ν, given by Sec. IV we give the proof that spacelike entanglement harvesting is not possible in the case when the periods of μˆνðtÞ¼eiΩνtσˆþν þe−iΩνtσˆ−ν ð3Þ interaction have nonzero overlap, which requires the extra assumption of the shapes being spherically symmetric. In [σˆþandσˆ−aretheusualSU(2)ladderoperators].HereΩνis Sec.VweextendtheresultsinSecs.IIIandIVtodetectors the energy gap between the two levels of detector ν: interacting with an electromagnetic field through a realistic XνðtÞ is the switching function that controls the duration dipole-typelight-matterinteraction.InSec.VIwealsoshow andstrengthoftheinteraction.SνðxÞisthesmearingfunction that very short and strong “deltalike” switching functions ofthedetectorsthatcanbeassociatedtotheirspatialextension cannotharvestentanglementatallregardlessofenergygaps, and shape (e.g., for a hydrogenoid atom it is connected regimeofseparationorsmearingofthedetectors.Finally,in to theground and excited statewave functions[12]). Sec. VII we conclude by providing the physical interpreta- As usual in entanglement harvesting scenarios, the tion of the results: as was already noted in Ref. [6], the detectors, initially completely uncorrelated and in their energygapshieldsfromlocalexcitationsofthedetectorsand ground state, couple to the field, and after the coupling its absence allows for any local noise to overcome the (controlled by the switching function), they end up in a nonlocal excitations produced by the vacuum fluctuations. final state given by 105009-2 DEGENERATE DETECTORS ARE UNABLE TO HARVEST … PHYSICAL REVIEW D 95, 105009 (2017) ρˆAB ¼TrϕˆðUˆjψ0ihψ0jUˆ†Þ; ð4Þ SidAen¼ticSaBl,≡soS.thWateλal¼soλta≡keλt,haendcotuhpelisnwgitcsthriennggtfhusncttoiobnes A B whereTr denotesthepartialtracewithrespecttothefield tobeidenticaluptoatimeshift,sothatXνðtÞ≡Xðt−tνÞ, degrees oϕ^f freedom. Here where tν is the time at which the interaction of detector ν and the field begins. (cid:3) Z (cid:4) The detectors’ state ρˆ after the interaction is a two- Uˆ ¼T exp −i ∞dtHˆðtÞ ð5Þ qubit X-state [4,6]. We qABuantify the entanglement in this −∞ state with the negativity (a faithful entanglement measure for a system of two qubits [25]). To the first nontrivial is the time evolution operator and the initial state of the perturbative order in the coupling strength, the negativity detectors-field system is taken to be takes the simple form [5,6] jψ0i¼jgAi⊗jgBi⊗j0ϕˆi: ð6Þ Nð2Þ ¼maxð0;jMj−LÞþOðλ4Þ. ð7Þ We consider detectors that have identical energy gaps Notethatthroughoutthispaperweareusingthenotationin and identical spatial shapes, so that Ω ¼Ω ≡Ω and Ref. [6]. The functions L and M are A B Z Z Z Z ∞ ∞ L¼λ2 dt1 dt2Xðt1ÞXðt2ÞeiΩðt1−t2Þ dnx1 dnx2Sðx1ÞSðx2ÞWnðt2;x2;t1;x1Þ −∞ −∞ Z Z Z jS~ðkÞj2 ∞ ∞ ¼λ2 dnk 2jkj −∞dt1Xðt1ÞeiðjkjþΩÞt1 −∞dt2Xðt2Þe−iðjkjþΩÞt2 Z (cid:5)Z (cid:5) ¼λ2 dnkjS~ðkÞj2(cid:5)(cid:5)(cid:5) ∞dtXðtÞeiðjkjþΩÞt(cid:5)(cid:5)(cid:5)2; ð8Þ 2jkj −∞ Z Z Z Z M¼−λ2 ∞dt1 t1 dt2 dnx1 dnx2Sðx1−xAÞSðx2−xBÞeiΩðt1þt2ÞWnðt1;x1;t2;x2Þ −∞ −∞ ×½Xðt1−t ÞXðt2−t ÞþXðt1−t ÞXðt2−t Þ(cid:2) A B B A Z Z Z ¼−λ2 dnkjS~2ðjkkÞjj2eik·ðxA−xBÞ −∞∞dt1 −∞t1 dt2e−iðjkj−ΩÞt1eiðjkjþΩÞt2 ×½Xðt1−t ÞXðt2−t ÞþXðt1−t ÞXðt2−t Þ(cid:2); ð9Þ A B B A the Wightman function of the free scalar field in n spatial entanglement from the field (i.e., for the negativity of the dimensions is given by jointstateρˆ tobenonzeroafterinteractingwiththefield) AB the correlation term M must overcome the local noise L. Wnðt;x;t0;x0Þ¼h0ϕˆjϕˆðt;xÞϕˆðt0;x0Þj0ϕˆi; ð10Þ Ourobjectiveistoprovethatidenticalzero-gapdetectors cannot harvest entanglement from spacelike separated and the Fourier transform of the smearing function is regions of the field. Z From now on we consider gapless detectors, Ω¼0, so 1 S~ðkÞ¼pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi dnxSðxÞeik·x: ð11Þ thatthemonopolemoment(3) becomestimeindependent. ð2πÞn We also take the switching function X to have compact support, writing We have used the time translation invariance of (cid:6) Wnðt;x;t0;x0Þ to write (8) in a way that makes explicit XðtÞ¼ χðtÞ for 0≤t≤T; ð12Þ that L is independent of the beginning of the interaction 0 otherwise with the field tν. It is already discussed in Refs. [4,5], and with our where T >0 is the duration of each detector’s interaction notation in Refs. [6,12], that the term L corresponds to withthefield.Weemphasizethatthetimestν,atwhichthe local excitations of each detector, while M accounts for interaction of each detector with the field begins, remain correlationsbetweenbothdetectors.Therefore,Eq.(7)has arbitrary.TheseinitialtimeshavedroppedoutofL(8)but an intuitive physical meaning: for two detectors to harvest they appear in M (9). Similarly, we emphasize that the 105009-3 POZAS-KERSTJENS, LOUKO, and MARTÍN-MARTÍNEZ PHYSICAL REVIEW D 95, 105009 (2017) spatial points xν, at which the detectors are centered, have where the changes of variables t¼t1−t and t0 ¼t2−t B A dropped out of L (8) but they appear in M (9). have been performed. This yields the following conclusion: when there is no overlap between the time intervals of individual inter- III. NONOVERLAPPING SWITCHINGS actions with the field, the nonlocal, entangling term is When the switching functions’domains do not overlap, always upper-bounded by the local one and therefore thetimeintegralsinthenonlocalterm(9)greatlysimplify. Nð2Þ ¼maxð0;jMj−LÞ¼0 for any—compactly sup- There are two summands in this term, which require ported or not—smearing function of the (recall gapless) separate study. detectors and any compactly supported, nonoverlapping In the first summand the integrand is nonzero for t1 ∈ switchings. ½t ;t þT(cid:2)andt2 ∈½t ;t1 ≤minðt ;t ÞþT(cid:2).Withoutloss This means that gapless inertial comoving detectors A A B A B of generality, let us assume that detector B is switched on with the same switching functions are unable to harvest afterdetectorAhasbeenswitchedoff(i.e.,t >t þT).In any entanglement regardless of their relative positioning B A this case, because of the nested nature of the integrals, the (spacelike,timelikeorlightlike)fromevenarbitrarilyclose region of integration over t2 is limited by the support of regions if they are switched on at different times with no Xðt1−t Þ.SincedetectorBisswitchedonafterdetectorA overlapbetweenthetimeintervalsinwhicheachindividual A isswitchedoff,theregionofintegrationovert2 liesoutof detector interacts with the field. the support of Xðt1−t Þ, and therefore the integral We stress that this is the case even for gapless detectors A evaluates to 0 regardless of the specific shape of χðt2Þ. whichareinregionsthatcanbeconnectedbylight.Thisis In the second summand, in contrast, the integrand true even if the smearing functions overlap (which means is supported in t1 ∈½t ;t þT(cid:2) and t2 ∈½t ;t1 ≤ having effectively zero distance between the detectors). B B A minðt ;t ÞþT(cid:2). Now, in the case that detector B is Although this proof assumed that the switchings were A B switched on after detector A has been switched off, the the same for both detectors, numerical evidence for a effective region of integration over t2 after taking into generality of compactly supported switching functions account the supports of Xðt1−t Þ and Xðt2−t Þ is suggests that the detectors are unable to harvest entangle- B A ½t ;t þT(cid:2).Thismeansthatwecandenestthetwointegrals, ment also in the case of switchings of different duration A A Z Z T ≠T . We highlight that this is true for detectors in A B ∞dt1 t1 dt2e−ijkjðt1−t2ÞXðt1−tBÞXðt2−tAÞ timFeilnikalel,y,spnaoctiecleiktehaotrtehvisenprloigohftcliakreriessepoavreartioton.the case of −∞Z −∞Z ∞ ∞ 1þ1dimensionsifweaddaninfraredcutoff.Evenwithan ¼ dt1 dt2e−ijkjðt1−t2ÞXðt1−t ÞXðt2−t Þ; ð13Þ infraredcutoff,theidentity(14)stillholdsinthesameway B A −∞ −∞ as in (15), so the inability of gapless detectors to harvest entanglement applies also to this case. wheretheequalityfollowsbecauseallthevaluesoft2inthe support of Xðt2−t Þ are strictly smaller than the smallest A value of t1 in thesupport of Xðt1−t Þ. IV. OVERLAPPING SWITCHINGS B Now, using the fact that the modulus of an integral is We now explore the case when the time intervals of upper bounded by the integral of the modulus of the interaction overlap, either partially or totally. For this integrand, i.e., scenario, numerical evidence shows that entanglement har- (cid:5)Z (cid:5) Z vesting is possible in general for timelike and lightlike (cid:5) (cid:5) (cid:5)(cid:5) dxfðxÞ(cid:5)(cid:5)≤ dxjfðxÞj; ð14Þ separations, sowe focus onthe harvesting of entanglement from spacelike separated regions and ask the following question: can two gapless detectors harvest entanglement we see that fromthefieldvacuumwhiletheyremainspacelikeseparated? To talkproperlyaboutspacelike separation,weconsider (cid:5)Z jMj¼λ2(cid:5)(cid:5)(cid:5) dnkjS~2ðjkkÞjj2eik·ðxA−xBÞ dCeotnecctroerteslyw,idtheteacrtboirtrsarAy caonmdpBacthlyavesupfipnoitretedchasmraecaterrinisgtisc. Z Z (cid:5) lengths of R and R respectively. In analogy with ∞ ∞ (cid:5) A B × dt1 dt2eijkjðt1−t2ÞXðt1−t ÞXðt2−t Þ(cid:5)(cid:5) Eq.(12),thesmearingfunctionsofthedetectorsaregivenby B A −∞ −∞ (cid:6) ≤λ2Z dnkjS~2ðjkkÞjj2 SνðxÞ¼ s0νðxÞ foothrejrxwji≤se12Rν: ð16Þ (cid:5)Z Z (cid:5) (cid:5) ∞ ∞ (cid:5) ×(cid:5)(cid:5) dt dt0eijkjðt−t0ÞXðtÞXðt0Þ(cid:5)(cid:5)¼L; ð15Þ Forthefollowingproof,wefurthermoreassumethatthe −∞ −∞ shapes of the detectors are spherically symmetric, which 105009-4 DEGENERATE DETECTORS ARE UNABLE TO HARVEST … PHYSICAL REVIEW D 95, 105009 (2017) Z Z Z Z aEmq.o(u1n1t)sotnolysadyeipnegntdhsatonthtehiernFoorumrieorfttrhaenFsfoourrmierasvagriivaebnlebky. M¼−λ2 ∞dt1 t1 dt2 dnx1 dnx2 −∞ −∞ Explicitly, writing (8) and (9) in spherical coordinates ×Sðx1−xAÞSðx2−xBÞWnðt1;x1;t2;x2Þ L¼λ2Z ∞djkjZ dΩn−1jkjn−2jS~ðj2kjÞj2(cid:5)(cid:5)(cid:5)(cid:5)Z ∞dtXðtÞeijkjt(cid:5)(cid:5)(cid:5)(cid:5)2; ×½Xðt1−tAÞXðt2−tBÞþXðt1−tBÞXðt2−tAÞ(cid:2)ð:22Þ 0 −∞ ð17Þ Giventhatthesmearingandswitchingfunctionsarereal, the only element that can make M complex is the Z Z Wightman function W . Remarkably, the imaginary part M¼−λZ2 0∞djZkj dΩn−1jkjn−2jS~ðj2kjÞj2eik·ðxA−xBÞ (otfhetheexWpeicgthattimonanvafulunectoinof)nthWencðotm;xm;tu0;taxt0oÞriosfptrhoepfoiretlidonaatlthtoe × ∞dt1 t1 dt2e−ijkjðt1−t2Þ Rpoeifn.t[s18ðt];],xÞ and ðt0;x0Þ. Namely [see, e.g., Eq. (23) in −∞ −∞ ×½Xðt1−tAÞXðt2−tBÞþXðt1−tBÞXðt2−tAÞ(cid:2): h0ϕˆj½ϕˆðt;xÞ;ϕˆðt0;x0Þ(cid:2)j0ϕˆi¼2iIm½Wnðt;x;t0;x0Þ(cid:2): ð23Þ ð18Þ The commutator between field observables (and in particular, the field commutator) is only supported inside The spherical symmetry of the smearing allows us to their respective light cones (this property is known as performtheintegrationovertheangularvariablesthatappear microcausality).Therefore,forspacelikeseparatedregions inEqs.(17)and(18).Onthe one hand,theintegralsinthe the imaginary part of the Wightman function as given by local term (8) straightforwardly evaluate to the surface of the (n−1)-sphere, while on the other handtheintegrals in Eq. (23) vanishes and the nonlocal term described by Eq. (22) is real. This means, from (22), that M is real. thenonlocalterm(9)areslightlylessstraightforwardandare Armed with this information about M, we look at it in computed explicitly in AppendixesA and B. The resulting expressions for L andM are the form (20). Since the hypergeometric functions in Eq. (20) are real and M itself is real, we conclude that L¼λ2Z0∞djkjjkjn−2jS~ðjkjÞj2Γðnπ=n22ÞRe½T0ðjkj;TÞ(cid:2); ð19Þ oaswlnloliytwchsthiunesgrteoaanlredppalraratcdeoiafTllTΔytΔðjtskðyjjmk;Tjm;ÞTebÞtryiccRonest½mrTibeΔuatrtðeijnksgj;toTuÞMn(cid:2)dfeo.rrTathnhiyes condition that the detectors are spacelike separated. Z Continuingwiththeproof,weshowinAppendixCthat M¼−λ2 ∞djkjjkjn−2jS~ðjkjÞj2 πn2 0(cid:3) (cid:4)Γðn=2Þ Re½TΔtðjkj;TÞ(cid:2)¼2πjX~ðjkjÞj2cosðjkjΔtÞ ×0F1 n2;−jkj2jxA4−xBj2 TΔtðjkj;TÞ; ð20Þ ¼Re½T0ðjkj;TÞ(cid:2)cosðjkjΔtÞ: ð24Þ As the confluent hypergeometric limit function satisfies where 0F1ða;zÞ is the confluent hypergeometric limit (see 10.14.4 and 10.16.9 in Ref. [26]) function [26], Z Z j0F1ðα;−x2Þj≤1; ð25Þ ∞ ∞ TΔtðjkj;TÞ¼ dt1 dt2θðt1−t2Þe−ijkjðt1−t2Þ we obtain −∞ −∞ (cid:5)Z ×½Xðt1ÞXðt2−ΔtÞþXðt1−ΔtÞXðt2Þ(cid:2); jMj¼λ2(cid:5)(cid:5)(cid:5) ∞djkjjkjn−2jS~ðjkjÞj2 2πn2þ1 ð21Þ 0 Γðn=2Þ (cid:3) (cid:4) (cid:5) and Δt¼t −t . ×0F1 n2;−jkj2jxA4−xBj2 jX~ðjkjÞj2cosðjkjΔtÞ(cid:5)(cid:5)(cid:5) B A Z Acrucialobservationtoprovethatgaplessdetectorswith overlappinginteractiontimeintervalscannotharvestspace- ≤λ2 ∞djkjjkjn−2jS~ðjkjÞj2 2πn2þ1 jX~ðjkjÞj2 ¼L: like entanglement is that only the real part of the function 0 Γðn=2Þ TΔt contributestotheevaluationofMwhenthedetectors ð26Þ are spacelike separated. To see this, we return to the expression of M in terms of the Wightman function in This implies that Nð2Þ ¼0 for gapless, spacelike sep- Eq. (9), which for gapless detectors is arated spherically symmetric detectors for any zero or 105009-5 POZAS-KERSTJENS, LOUKO, and MARTÍN-MARTÍNEZ PHYSICAL REVIEW D 95, 105009 (2017) nonzerooverlapbetweenthetimeintervalsofinteractionof where e is the electron charge, the matrix Wðt1;x1;t2;x2Þ each detector with the field. Hence, combining the results istheistheWightmantensoroftheelectricfieldoperatorEˆ of this section with those of Sec. III, we see that gapless whose components are given by detectors with finite, spherically symmetric smearings interactingforafinitetimewiththefieldcanneverharvest ½W(cid:2)ij ¼Wijðt;x;t0;x0Þ¼h0EˆjEˆiðt;xÞEˆjðt0;x0Þj0Eˆi; ð29Þ entanglement from spacelike separated regions, independ- entlyofthespecificwayofinteractingwiththefieldortheir and the vectors Sνt and S(cid:3)νt are respectively the transpose shape.This,ofcourse,includesasaparticularcasetheuse and Hermitian conjugate of the vector Sν (the spatial of pointlike detectors, which is the case that is used most smearing vector) which relates to the ground and excited often in the literature. wave functions by V. ASYVMEMRYETRREILCECVAASNET: TNHOENSRPEHAELRIISCTAICLLY SνðxÞ¼ψ(cid:3)eνðxÞxψgνðxÞ ð30Þ LIGHT-MATTER INTERACTION [note that this smearing vector is called FνðxÞ in [12]]. Inthissectionweconsidertherealisticcaseofthelight- In the case of atomic switching functions that do not matter interaction. Namely, the interaction of an atomic overlap, the reasoning used in Sec. III applies: the first electroninahydrogenlikeatomwiththevacuumstateofan summand of Eq. (28) evaluates to 0 and in the second electromagneticfieldthroughadipolarcoupling.Ourstudy summand the integrals in time denest, making jMEMj becomes particularly relevant for transitions between orbi- upper-boundedbyLEM,regardlessofthesmearingvectors tals of the same quantum number n, which have zero being compactly supported or not. This means that non- energygap.Inthesimplifiedcaseofpointlikeatoms,there simultaneously interacting hydrogenlike atoms cannot was numerical evidence that gapless detectors do not harvest any entanglement from the vacuum at all through allow for entanglement harvesting in spacelike separated transitions of zero energy. regions [21]. When there is some overlap between the intervals of Beyond that simplification, the general study of atom- interaction of each individual atom with the field, the light interactions for arbitrary finite energy gaps was arguments used in Sec. IV would also apply for hypo- reported in Ref. [12], where the fully featured shape of theticalcompactlysupportedatoms:inthiscase,andsince the atomic wave functions was taken into account. In the electric field also satisfies microcausality (the electric particular, it was shown in Ref. [12] that entanglement fieldcommutatoris0forspacelikeseparatedevents),MEM harvesting from both electromagnetic and scalar fields would also be real for spacelike separations between the exhibitsthesamequalitativefeaturesdespitethedifference compactly supported atoms. Then, without assuming in the setups. We now focus on the case of two fully spherical symmetry of the smearing functions, the hyper- featured hydrogenlike atoms when an energy degenerate geometricfunctioninEq.(20)isreplacedbycombinations transitionisusedtoharvestentanglementfromthevacuum of spherical Bessel functions. For example, for the zero- state of the electromagnetic field. energy transition 2s→2p Eqs. (27) and (28) read For a pair of identical atoms, the negativity takes a Z similar form as in the scalar case. Namely, the negativity 3a2 ∞ ða2jkj2−1Þ2 LacqaunidrendoanfltoecrailntMeractetiromnsisbgecivoemnebynoEwq.[(s7e)e.wEhqesre. (th3e1)loacnadl LEM ¼e22π02 0 djkjjkj3ða200jkj2þ1Þ8Re½T0ðjkj;TÞ(cid:2); (32) in Ref. [12]] ð31Þ Z Z LEM ¼e2 ∞dt1 ∞dt2Xðt1ÞXðt2Þ MEM ¼−e23a20cosϑ Z−∞ Z −∞ Z 2π2 × d3x1 d3x2S(cid:3)tðx2ÞWðt2;x2;t1;x1ÞSðx1Þ; × 0∞djkjjkj3ððaa2020jjkkjj22þ−11ÞÞ28TΔtðjkj;TÞ Z Z Z Z ð27Þ ×½j0ðjkjjx −x jÞþj2ðjkjjx −x jÞ(cid:2); ð32Þ A B A B MEM¼−e2 −∞∞dt1 −∞t1 dt2 d3x1 d3x2 whereϑistheangleoftheaxisofsymmetryofatomB’s2p ×½Xðt1−t ÞXðt2−t Þ orbital with respect to atom A’s orbital. A B Note that, despite the fact that the hypergeometric ×S tðx1−x ÞWðt1;x1;t2;x2ÞS ðx2−x Þ function appearing in the scalar nonlocal term [see A A B B þXðt1−t ÞXðt2−t Þ Eq. (20)] has been substituted by a combination of B A spherical Bessel functions, this combination can still be ×SBtðx1−xBÞWðt1;x1;t2;x2ÞSAðx2−xAÞ(cid:2); ð28Þ upper-bounded by 1 (and the same occurs in the gapped 105009-6 DEGENERATE DETECTORS ARE UNABLE TO HARVEST … PHYSICAL REVIEW D 95, 105009 (2017) casestudiedinRef.[12]).Thismeansthatalsointhiscase FortheswitchingfunctionspecifiedbyEq.(33)thelocal the magnitude of the nonlocal term jMEMj is upper- and nonlocal terms Eqs. (8) and (9) read bounded by the local term LEM, which means that no Z (cid:5)Z (cid:5) evnactaunugmlemweintht cdanegebneerhaatreveasttoemdifcromprotbheeseilfecttrhoemiragrnadeitiacl L¼λ2η2 dnkjS~2ðjkkÞjj2(cid:5)(cid:5)(cid:5) −∞∞dtδðtÞeiðjkjþΩÞt(cid:5)(cid:5)(cid:5)2 functions were compactly supported. This argument con- Z jS~ðkÞj2 tains, as a special case, that studied numerically in ¼λ2η2 dnk ; ð34Þ Refs.[20,21]wheretheatomswereassumedtobepointlike. 2jkj One must however note that the atomic wave functions Z ofanelectroninahydrogenlikeatomdonothavecompact jS~ðkÞj2 support.Instead,theradialwavefunctionsdecayexponen- M¼−λ2η2 dnk 2jkj eik·ðxA−xBÞ Z Z tiallywiththedistancetotheatomiccenterofmass.Forthis reason, one may be tempted to argue that the atoms can × ∞dt1 t1 dt2e−ijkjðt1−t2ÞeiΩðt1þt2Þ never be placed in spacelike-separated regions due to the −∞ −∞ always-existent overlap of their atomic wave functions, ×½δðt1−t Þδðt2−t Þþδðt1−t Þδðt2−t Þ(cid:2): ð35Þ A B B A which make the imaginary part of the Wightman function contribute, albeit suppressed by a factor of the overlap In the case of nonsimultaneous switchings t ≠t , the A B between the wave functions. Nevertheless, for the imple- argumentinSec.IIIusedforevaluatingthetimeintegralsof mentation proposed in Ref. [20] with two quantum dots thenonlocalterm(35)applies:ifdetectorBisswitchedon separatedbyadistanceofd¼10 nm≈190a0(wherea0is after detector A, the first summand evaluates to 0 while in theBohrradius),tRheoverlapbetweenthewavefunctionsis the second the integrals denest. Integration over the time on the order of djxjjxj2ψAðjxjÞψBðjxjÞ≈e−190≈10−83, variables then leads to the expression which is definitely negligible as compared with the Z ednisttaanngcleemsceanletst(hfaotragadpeptaeidledatsotumdsyoconuhlodwhtahrevensotncaotmthpoascet M¼−λ2η2 dnkjS~2ðjkkÞjj2eik·ðxA−xBÞe−ijkjðtB−tAÞeiΩðtBþtAÞ: supportcannotberesponsibleforentanglementharvesting, ð36Þ checkSec.IVCofRef.[12]).IntheexamplesofRef.[12] the atoms were declared effectively spacelike when sepa- The magnitude of this expression satisfies ratedby104Bohrradiiandtheirinteraction(withGaussian tshwaintcnhiinneg)timweassthsheotirmt eensocualgehofsodutrhaattio1n0o4fat0h=ecinwtearsacmtioorne. jMj¼(cid:5)(cid:5)(cid:5)(cid:5)λ2η2Z dnkjS~2ðjkkÞjj2eik·ðxA−xBÞe−ijkjðtB−tAÞeiΩðtBþtAÞ(cid:5)(cid:5)(cid:5)(cid:5) Inthatexample,theoverlapbetweenthewavefunctionsof thetwoatomswasoftheorderof10−4343,whichiseffectively Z jS~ðkÞj2(cid:5)(cid:5) (cid:5)(cid:5) 0 for all practical purposes. Since the harvesting of entan- ≤λ2η2 dnk 2jkj (cid:5)eik·ðxA−xBÞe−ijkjðtB−tAÞeiΩðtBþtAÞ(cid:5) glement due to the atomic wave function overlap is negli- Z jS~ðkÞj2 gible, our results carry over to the light-atom interaction. ¼λ2η2 dnk ¼L ð37Þ 2jkj VI. INSTANTANEOUS SWITCHINGS so again in this case Nð2Þ ¼0, regardless of the specific Finally,letusexplorethecaseinwhichgappeddetectors shape of the detectors, their relative distance, and addi- interactforaninfinitesimalamountoftimewiththefieldbut tionally now the energy gap. with an infinite strength. This case is relevant due to its Whentheindividualinteractionsofthedetectorswiththe similarities with a gapless detector case: In the case of a fieldcoincide,i.e.Δt¼0,Eq.(36)becomesmathematically delta switching, during the time of interaction the free ambiguous,duetotheargumentofaDiracdeltacoinciding dynamics of the detectors is effectively halted (roughly with a limit of the integral. For sufficiently symmetric speaking the free Hamiltonian becomes negligible with regularizations of theDiracdeltas, we however have respecttothedeltastrengthoftheinteractionHamiltonian). Z Z Tfuhnicstioinntseraction is modeled by Dirac delta switching 2 ∞dt1 t1 dt2e−ijkjðt1−t2ÞeiΩðt1þt2Þδðt1−t Þδðt2−t Þ A A −∞ −∞ XνðtÞ¼ηδðt−tνÞ; ð33Þ ¼e2iΩtA; ð38Þ where η is a constant with dimensions of time. This and we give in Appendix D two examples of such regula- switching allows us to obtain analytical closed-form rizations.Withtheinterpretation(38),thenonlocaltermM expressions even for Ω≠0. becomes 105009-7 POZAS-KERSTJENS, LOUKO, and MARTÍN-MARTÍNEZ PHYSICAL REVIEW D 95, 105009 (2017) Z jS~ðkÞj2 Therefore,we attribute the inabilityof gaplessdetectors M¼−λ2e2iΩtA dnk 2jkj eik·ðxA−xBÞ: ð39Þ to harvest entanglement to the fact that, as shown in previous studies [6,12], the energy gap has a protective Again,themagnitudeofthistermisboundedfromabove role that shields from local noise allowing for nonlocal by the local term L, so Nð2Þ ¼0 and entanglement excitations that entangle the detectors. In the absence of a harvesting is not possible in the limit when the switching gapbetweentheenergylevels,eventhesmoothestswitch- becomesvery shortandintense,regardlessof theshapeor ings (those that create the smallest amount of local noise) sizeoftheprobes,theirrelativedistanceor,inthisspecific break the entanglement between the detectors. case, the size of the gap between the energy levels of the As a last comment, these results may also shed some detectors. light on studies in the context of creation of entanglement via interaction with a common heat bath through dipolar VII. SUMMARY AND DISCUSSION couplings[20,21].Inthesestudies,theauthorsawnumeri- callythatonlywhenoneprobeisdeepinsidethelightcone In the context of entanglement harvesting [3,5,6] and of the other (they are in timelike separation) entanglement creation of entanglement by interaction with a common can be extracted from the bath to the (gapless) detectors. heat bath [20,21], we have studied whether degenerate identicaltwo-levelquantumsystemscouplinglinearlywith ACKNOWLEDGMENTS the vacuum state of a scalar field in flat spacetime are capableofharvestingtheentanglementpresentinspacelike The authors thank Daniel Braun for the interesting separated regions of the field. We haveestablished several conversations that motivated this work. The work of results within leading order in perturbation theory. A.P.-K. is supported by Fundación Obra Social “la First, we have proved that if the time intervals of Caixa,” Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad interaction between each individual detector and the field (QIBEQI Grant No. FIS2016-80773-P and Severo Ochoa haveno overlap the detectors can neverbecome entangled Grant No. SEV-2015-0522), Fundació Privada Cellex and through their interaction with the field. This result is the Generalitat de Catalunya (SGR875 and CERCA pro- independent of the shape or size of the detectors (which gram).TheworkofJ.L.issupportedinpartbytheScience canbeevennotcompactlysupportedinafiniteregion),the and Technology Facilities Council (Theory Consolidated duration of the interaction or the separation between the Grant No. ST/J000388/1). J.L. thanks the Institute for probes (timelike, lightlike or spacelike). Quantum Computing at the University of Waterloo for Second, under the additional assumption of spherical hospitality. The work of E.M.-M. is supported by the symmetry of the detectors’ smearing functions we have National Sciences and Engineering Research Council of shown that, although the detectors can harvest timelike Canada through the Discovery program. E.M.-M. also entanglement, for arbitrary spacelike separations entangle- thankfully acknowledges the funding of his Ontario Early ment harvesting is impossible in any situation where the Research Award. time of interaction with the field is finite. Third, we have shown that considering realistic light- APPENDIX A: INTEGRATION OVER ANGULAR matterinteractions,andinparticulartheinteractionoffully VARIABLES OF THE NONLOCAL TERM featured hydrogenlike atoms interacting with the electro- magneticfield,thesamephenomenologyoccurs:asthegap In this appendix we perform the integrations in the between the atomic levels is scaled down to 0 the gapless generalizedsolidanglevariablesofthevectorkthatappear detectorsbecomeunabletoharvestspacelikeentanglement in the nonlocal term M in Eq. (18), namely from the field, and only when the time intervals of the Z individualatomicinteractionswiththefieldoverlapcanthe atoms have a chance of harvesting timelike and lightlike dΩn−1eik·ðxA−xBÞ; ðA1Þ entanglement. Finally,wehavealsoshownthatdetectorscoupledtothe to compare the result to the corresponding integrals in the field through a deltalike coupling (short and intense local term L, which evaluate to the area of the (n−1)- coupling strength) are also completely unable to become sphere, i.e., entangled through their interaction with the field in time- like, spacelike or lightlike regimes at leading order in Z 2πn panerdt,uirnbathtiiosncatshee,oervye,nreifgtahredylehssavoefatfhineiitresepnaetrigayl gsmape.aTrihnigs dΩn−1 ¼An−1 ¼Γðn=22Þ: ðA2Þ shouldnotbesurprisingsincethedeltacouplingresembles a case where the detectors’ internal dynamics are frozen Inndimensionstherearen−1angularvariables,oneof during the time of interaction, as is the case of zero-gap which (the polar angle ϕn−1) has the range ½0;2πÞ and the detectors. rest (the azimuthal angles ϕ1;…ϕn−2) have range ½0;π(cid:2). 105009-8 DEGENERATE DETECTORS ARE UNABLE TO HARVEST … PHYSICAL REVIEW D 95, 105009 (2017) Z Z The solid angle element is therefore ∞ ∞ TLðjkj;TÞ¼ dt1 dt2e−ijkjðt1−t2ÞXðt1ÞXðt2Þ −∞ −∞ dΩn−1 ¼sinn−2ðϕ1Þsinn−3ðϕ2Þ…sinðϕn−2Þ ¼2πjX~ðjkjÞj2; ðB1Þ ×dϕ1dϕ2…dϕn−1: ðA3Þ wherethetildedenotestheFouriertransforminthenotation Let us then begin with the particularly simple case of of Eq. (11). We show that n¼2forillustration.Choosingthexaxisoftheintegration frametoalignwithx −x ,theintegraleasilyevaluatesto TLðjkj;TÞ¼Re½T0ðjkj;TÞ(cid:2); ðB2Þ A B (see 10.9.4 and 10.16.9 in Ref. [26]) Z 2π where TΔtðjkj;TÞ is given by Eq. (21). dϕ1eijkjjxA−xBjcosϕ1 ¼2πJ0ðjkjjx −x jÞ Tobeginwith,weseethatforΔt¼0thetwosummands A B 0 (cid:3) (cid:4) of Eq. (21) coincide, leading to ðjkjjx −x jÞ2 Z Z ¼2π0F1 1;− A4 B ; T0ðjkj;TÞ¼2 ∞dt1 ∞dt2e−ijkjðt1−t2Þ −∞ −∞ ðA4Þ ×Xðt1ÞXðt2Þθðt1−t2Þ; ðB3Þ where F is the confluent hypergeometric limit function. 0 1 In fact, the general case is not too difficult to compute where θðxÞ is the Heaviside step function. Using the either.Innspatialdimensions,onecanchoosetoplaceone identity 1¼θðxÞþθð−xÞ and performing the change of of the axes of the integration frame aligned with xA−xB, variablest1 ↔t2inthesecondsummandtheresultfollows, which simplifies the scalar product in the exponential to, Z Z ifnotreginrasltsanecvea,lujaktjejxtAo−xBjcosðϕ1Þ. With this choice, the TLðjkj;TÞ¼ ∞dt1 ∞dt2e−ijkjðt1−t2Þ −∞ −∞ Z dΩn−1eik·ðxA−xBÞ ¼2πZmYn−¼22pΓðffiπffiffimΓþ2ð1m2ÞÞ ¼×ZX∞ðdt1t1ÞXZð∞t2Þd½tθ2ðXt1ð−t1ÞtX2Þðþt2Þθðt2−t1Þ(cid:2) π −∞ −∞ × dϕ1sinn−2ðϕ1ÞeijkjjxA−xBjcosðϕ1Þ ×θðt1−t2Þðe−ijkjðt1−t2Þþeijkjðt1−t2ÞÞ 0 Z Z ¼2π(cid:3)Yn−2pffiπffiffiΓðm2Þ(cid:4)pffiπffiffiΓðn−21Þ ¼ ∞dt1 ∞dt2Xðt1ÞXðt2Þ Γðmþ1Þ ΓðnÞ −∞ −∞ m(cid:3)¼2n ð2jkjjx −x jÞ22(cid:4) ×θðt1−t2Þ2Reðe−ijkjðt1−t2ÞÞ ×0F1 2;− A4 B ¼Re½T0ðjkj;TÞ(cid:2): ðB4Þ (cid:3) (cid:4) 2πn2 n ðjkjjx −x jÞ2 ¼Γðn=2Þ0F1 2;− A4 B ; APPENDIX C: EVALUATION OF ReT ðA5Þ Δt InthisappendixweshowthatEq.(21)leadstoEq.(24). usingagain10.9.4and10.16.9inRef.[26],andnotingthat Starting from Eq. (21) and changing variables by Yl t1 ¼t2þs gives f ≔1 for l<k; ðA6Þ Z Z i ∞ ∞ i¼k TΔtðjkj;TÞ¼ dt2 dse−ijkjs −∞ 0 and ×½Xðt2þsÞXðt2−ΔtÞ Yn−2pffiπffiffiΓðmÞ (1 n≤3 þXðt2þs−ΔtÞXðt2Þ(cid:2): ðC1Þ 2 m¼2 Γðmþ21Þ ¼ Γπðnn−2−231Þ n≥3: ðA7Þ Changing variables in the first summand by μ¼t2þs and renaming μ¼t2 in the second summand, we obtain APPENDIX B: TIME INTEGRALS Z Z ∞ ∞ IN THE OVERLAPPING CASE TΔtðjkj;TÞ¼ dμXðμÞ dse−ijkjs −∞ 0 In this appendix we examine the time integrals in the local term Eq. (8), given by ×½Xðμ−s−ΔtÞþXðμþs−ΔtÞ(cid:2): ðC2Þ 105009-9 POZAS-KERSTJENS, LOUKO, and MARTÍN-MARTÍNEZ PHYSICAL REVIEW D 95, 105009 (2017) Taking the real part gives Z Z ∞ ∞ Re½TΔtðjkj;TÞ(cid:2)¼ dμXðμÞ dscosðjkjsÞ½Xðμ−s−ΔtÞþXðμþs−ΔtÞ(cid:2) −Z∞ 0Z 1 ∞ ∞ ¼ dμXðμÞ dseijkjs½Xðμ−s−ΔtÞþXðμþs−ΔtÞ(cid:2) 2 pffiffi−ffiffiffiffi∞Z −∞ 2π ∞ ¼ dμXðμÞ½eijkjðμ−ΔtÞ½X~ðjkjÞ(cid:2)(cid:3)þeijkjð−μþΔtÞX~ðjkjÞ(cid:2) 2 −∞ ¼π½jX~ðjkjÞj2e−ijkjΔtþjX~ðjkjÞj2eijkjΔt(cid:2) ¼2πjX~ðjkjÞj2cosðjkjΔtÞ; ðC3Þ where the second equality uses the evenness of Xðμ−s−ΔtÞþXðμþs−ΔtÞ in s. APPENDIX D: REGULARIZATIONS OF INSTANTANEOUS SWITCHING InthisappendixwepresenttworegularizationsoftheDiracdeltathatare“kink”limitsofswitchingslargelyemployedin past literature [6] that lead to (38). For notational simplicity, we set t ¼0 and consider the formal expression A Z Z T0ðjkjÞ¼2 ∞dt1 t1 dt2e−ijkjðt1−t2ÞeiΩðt1þt2Þδðt1Þδðt2Þ; ðD1Þ −∞ −∞ showing that each of the regularizations gives for T0ðjkjÞ the value unity. 1. Top-hat regularization First, we regard the Dirac delta as a limit of the top-hat function, ( 1 1 if t∈½−ϵ;ϵ(cid:2) δðtÞ¼ lim 2 2 : ðD2Þ ϵ→0þϵ 0 otherwise Then Z Z T0ðjkjÞ¼2 ∞dt1 t1 dt2e−ijkjðt1−t2ÞeiΩðt1þt2Þδðt1Þδðt2Þ −∞ −∞Z Z ¼2ϵl→im0þϵl0→im0þϵ1ϵ0 −ϵϵ==22dt1 −tϵ10=2dt2e−ijkjðt1−t2ÞeiΩðt1þt2Þ Z ¼2ϵl→im0þϵl0→im0þϵiϵe0−ð12jikϵ0jðjþkjþΩΩÞÞ −ϵϵ==22dt1e−iðjkj−ΩÞt1ð1−e12iðjkjþΩÞð2t1þϵ0ÞÞ (cid:7) (cid:8) ¼ lim lim 2i 2e−12iϵ0ðjkjþΩÞsin½12ϵðjkj−ΩÞ(cid:2)− sinðΩϵÞ ϵ→0þϵ0→0þϵϵ0 jkj2−Ω2 jkjΩþΩ2 2i ð−iϵϵ0Þ ¼ lim lim ¼1: ðD3Þ ϵ→0þϵ0→0þϵϵ0 2 2. Gaussian regularization Second, we regard the Dirac delta as a limit of the Gaussian function, δðtÞ¼ lim 1pffiffiffie−4tϵ22: ðD4Þ 2ϵ π ϵ→0þ Then 105009-10

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Degenerate detectors are unable to harvest spacelike entanglement. Alejandro very sensitive to the properties of the spacetime back- ground (e.g.
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