The discussion centers on the concept of timelike entanglement in the quantum vacuum, specifically referencing the paper "Entanglement between the Future and the Past in the Quantum Vacuum." It highlights that massless fields within the future and past light cones can be quantized as independent systems, resulting in a nonseparable vacuum state that mirrors entanglement between spacelike separated Rindler wedges. An inertial detector is described, which demonstrates a thermal response to the vacuum when activated at time t=0, with experimental parameters suggested at the scale of 100 GHz.
PREREQUISITESQuantum physicists, researchers in quantum mechanics, and experimentalists interested in the implications of entanglement in quantum fields.
Full text here http://arxiv.org/PS_cache/arxiv/pdf/1003/1003.0720v1.pdfWe note that massless fields within the future and past light cone may be quantized as independent systems. The vacuum is shown to be a nonseparable state of these systems, exactly mirroring the known entanglement between the spacelike separated Rindler wedges. This leads to a notion of timelike entanglement. We describe an inertial detector which exhibits a thermal response to the vacuum when switched on at t=0, due to this property. The feasibility of detecting this effect is discussed, with natural experimental parameters appearing at the scale of 100 GHz.