Disentanglement of two harmonic oscillators in relativistic motion

TL;DR

This paper investigates how quantum entanglement between two Unruh-DeWitt detectors, one stationary and one accelerating, evolves over time in relativistic motion, revealing phenomena like sudden death and observer-dependent disentanglement times.

Contribution

It provides a detailed analysis of entanglement dynamics between detectors in relativistic motion, highlighting the effects of acceleration and observer dependence.

Findings

Entanglement experiences sudden death in finite time.

Post-disentanglement, correlations persist until late times.

Disentanglement time varies with acceleration and observer frame.

Abstract

We study the dynamics of quantum entanglement between two Unruh-DeWitt detectors, one stationary (Alice), and another uniformly accelerating (Rob), with no direct interaction but coupled to a common quantum field in (3+1)D Minkowski space. We find that for all cases studied the initial entanglement between the detectors disappears in a finite time ("sudden death"). After the moment of total disentanglement the correlations between the two detectors remain nonzero until late times. The relation between the disentanglement time and Rob's proper acceleration is observer dependent. The larger the acceleration is, the longer the disentanglement time in Alice's coordinate, but the shorter in Rob's coordinate.