Towards Quantum Information Theory in Space and Time

TL;DR

This paper extends quantum information theory to incorporate spacetime considerations, emphasizing the importance of relativistic quantum field theory and proposing new notions for quantum systems in space and time.

Contribution

It introduces a relativistic framework for quantum information, replacing qubits with elementary quantum systems invariant under Poincare group, and discusses spacetime-dependent entanglement and correlations.

Findings

Quantum field theory shows statistical dependence between spacelike regions.

Entangled states become disentangled at large spacelike distances.

Bell inequality violations depend on detector separation.

Abstract

Modern quantum information theory deals with an idealized situation when the spacetime dependence of quantum phenomena is neglected. However the transmission and processing of (quantum) information is a physical process in spacetime. Therefore such basic notions in quantum information theory as qubit, channel, composite systems and entangled states should be formulated in space and time. In particlular we suggest that instead of a two level system (qubit) the basic notion in a relativistic quantum information theory should be a notion of an elementary quantum system, i.e. an infinite dimensional Hilbert space $H$ invariant under an irreducible representation of the Poincare group labeled by $[m,s]$ where $m\geq 0$ is mass and $s=0,1/2,1,...$ is spin. We emphasize an importance of consideration of quantum information theory from the point of view of quantum field theory. We point out and discuss a fundamental fact that in quantum field theory there is a statistical dependence between two regions in spacetime even if they are spacelike separated. A classical probabilistic representation for a family of correlation functions in quantum field theory is obtained. Entangled states in space and time are considered. It is shown that any reasonable state in relativistic quantum field theory becomes disentangled (factorizable) at large spacelike distances if one makes local observations. As a result a violation of Bell`s inequalities can be observed without inconsistency with principles of relativistic quantum theory only if the distance between detectors is rather small. We suggest a further experimental study of entangled states in spacetime by studying the dependence of the correlation functions on the distance between detectors.