Quantum entanglement between partons in a strongly coupled quantum field theory

TL;DR

This study investigates quantum entanglement among partons in a strongly coupled scalar Yukawa theory using light-front Hamiltonian methods, revealing deep links between entanglement measures and parton distributions.

Contribution

It introduces a non-perturbative approach to quantify entanglement in partonic systems, connecting quantum information with hadron structure in a strongly coupled quantum field theory.

Findings

Entanglement entropy relates to the Shannon entropy of transverse momentum distributions.

Unquenched theory shows non-classical correlations beyond classical probability interpretations.

The approach provides a foundation for exploring entanglement in QCD and collider physics.

Abstract

We perform a first-principles, non-perturbative investigation of quantum entanglement between partonic constituents in a strongly coupled 3+1-dimensional scalar Yukawa theory, using light-front Hamiltonian methods with controlled Fock-space truncations. By explicitly constructing reduced density matrices for (mock) nucleon, pion, and anti-nucleon subsystems from light-front wave functions, we compute key entanglement witnesses, including von Neumann entropy, mutual information, and linear entropy, in both quenched (no sea pairs) and unquenched frameworks. We find that the entanglement entropy is closely related to the Shannon entropy of the transverse momentum dependent distribution, establishing a link between quantum information and parton structure. In contrast, the unquenched theory reveals genuinely non-classical correlations: the entanglement entropy cannot be reduced to any Shannon entropy of normalized parton distributions, demonstrating that the full hadronic wave function encodes quantum information beyond classical probabilities. Our findings highlight the role of entanglement as a fundamental probe of non-perturbative dynamics in relativistic quantum field theory and lay the groundwork for extending these concepts to QCD and future collider phenomenology.