The effect of polarization entanglement in photon-photon scattering
Dennis R\"atzel, Martin Wilkens, Ralf Menzel
TL;DR
This paper investigates how the degree of polarization entanglement affects photon-photon scattering cross sections, deriving general and explicit expressions within quantum electrodynamics, highlighting quantum interference effects.
Contribution
It introduces a general expression for the differential cross section of photon-photon scattering that accounts for polarization entanglement, supported by an explicit QED example.
Findings
Differential cross section depends on polarization entanglement
Derived a general symmetry-based expression for the cross section
Quantum interference explains the entanglement effect in scattering
Abstract
It is found that the differential cross section of photon-photon scattering is a function of the degree of polarization entanglement of the two-photon state. A reduced, general expression for the differential cross section of photon-photon scattering is derived by applying simple symmetry arguments. An explicit expression is obtained for the example of photon-photon scattering due to virtual electron-positron pairs in Quantum Electrodynamics. It is shown how the effect in this explicit example can be explained as an effect of quantum interference and that it fits with the idea of distance-dependent forces.
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