Entanglement harvesting from electromagnetic quantum fields

Year: 2024

Authors: Lindel F., Herter A., Gebhart V., Faist J., Buhmann S.Y.

Autors Affiliation: Albert Ludwigs Univ Freiburg, Phys Inst, Hermann Herder Str 3, D-79104 Freiburg, Germany; Univ Autonoma Madrid, Dept Fis Teor Mat Condensada, E-28049 Madrid, Spain; Univ Autonoma Madrid, Condensed Matter Phys Ctr IFIMAC, E-28049 Madrid, Spain; Swiss Fed Inst Technol, Inst Quantum Elect, Auguste Piccard Hof 1, CH-8093 Zurich, Switzerland; INO CNR, QSTAR, Largo Enr Fermi 2, I-50125 Florence, Italy; LENS, Largo Enr Fermi 2, I-50125 Florence, Italy; Univ Kassel, Inst Phys, Heinrich Plett Stre 40, D-34132 Kassel, Germany.

Abstract: In many states of the quantum electromagnetic field, including the vacuum state, entanglement exists between different space-time regions-even spacelike separated ones. These correlations can be harvested and, thereby, detected by quantum systems which locally interact with the field. Here, we propose an experimental implementation of such an entanglement-harvesting scheme which is based on electro-optic sampling (EOS). We demonstrate that state-of-the-art EOS experiments enable one to harvest entanglement from the vacuum field and to study quantum correlations within general THz fields. We further show how Bell nonlocality present in the vacuum field can be probed. Finally, we introduce an approach to mitigate shot noise in single-beam EOS configurations. These findings pave the way for experimental inquiries into foundational properties of relativistic quantum field theory, and empower EOS as a diagnostic tool in THz quantum optics.

Journal/Review: PHYSICAL REVIEW A

Volume: 110 (2)      Pages from: 22414-1  to: 22414-19

More Information: F.L. is grateful to A. Buchleitner, E. Carnio, D. Lentrodt, and A. Woitzik for fruitful discussions and acknowledges support from the Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes. A.H. acknowledges financial support from Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) (Grant 200020207795/1) .
KeyWords: Inequalities
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevA.110.022414