A Duality in Entanglement Enabling a Test of Quantum Indistinguishability Unaffected by Interactions

TL;DR

This paper introduces a property called 'dualism' in entanglement of identical particles, enabling tests of quantum indistinguishability without particle interaction, thus offering a new way to explore quantum-to-classical transition.

Contribution

It reveals a novel duality property in entanglement of identical particles and proposes an interaction-independent test of quantum indistinguishability.

Findings

Identifies 'dualism' as a key property of entanglement in identical particles.

Proposes a new test for quantum indistinguishability avoiding particle interaction.

Potential to study the quantum-to-classical transition.

Abstract

We point out an earlier unnoticed implication of quantum indistinguishability, namely, a property which we call `dualism' that characterizes the entanglement of two identical particles (say, two ions of the same species) -- a feature which is absent in the entanglement of two non-identical particles (say, two ions of different species). A crucial application of this property is that it can be used to test quantum indistinguishability without bringing the relevant particles together, thereby avoiding the effects of mutual interaction. This is in contrast to the existing tests of quantum indistinguishability. Such a scheme, being independent of the nature and strength of mutual interactions of the identical particles involved, has potential applications, including the probing of the transition from quantum indistinguishability to classical distinguishability.