Minkowski vacuum entanglement and accelerated oscillator chains

TL;DR

This paper presents an exact solution for the quantum evolution of accelerated oscillator chains in Minkowski vacuum, demonstrating how entanglement is transferred between Rindler photons and oscillators in causally disconnected regions.

Contribution

It provides a novel exact analysis of entanglement transfer in accelerated oscillator chains interacting with Minkowski vacuum, connecting Rindler photon entanglement to oscillator dynamics.

Findings

Entanglement of Rindler photons is transferred to oscillators in causally disconnected regions.

The process can be interpreted as initial correlations transferring to Unruh-Minkowski photons.

An exact solution for the quantum evolution of accelerated oscillator chains is obtained.

Abstract

Minkowski vacuum is empty from the perspective of Unruh-Minkowski photons, however, in the Rindler picture, it is filled with entangled pairs of Rindler photons. A ground-state atom uniformly accelerated through Minkowski vacuum can become excited by absorbing a Rindler photon (Unruh effect) or, in the alternative description, by emitting an Unruh-Minkowski photon (Unruh-Wald effect). We find an exact solution for the quantum evolution of a long chain of harmonic oscillators accelerated through Minkowski vacuum and for two chains accelerated in the opposite directions. We show how entanglement of Rindler photons present in Minkowski vacuum is transferred to the oscillators moving in causally disconnected regions. We also show that in the Unruh-Minkowski photon picture the process can be interpreted as if initial correlations between collective oscillator modes are transferred to the generated Unruh-Minkowski photons.