Entanglement and general relativity

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the relationship between quantum entanglement and general relativity (GR), exploring whether entanglement can be derived from GR and how the two theories interact, particularly in the context of flat versus curved spacetime. The scope includes theoretical considerations and interpretations from both quantum mechanics and general relativity.

Discussion Character

  • Debate/contested
  • Technical explanation
  • Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • One participant questions how quantum entanglement fits within the framework of general relativity, seeking a connection between the two theories.
  • Another participant asserts that entanglement is a quantum phenomenon that cannot be derived from GR, emphasizing that GR is a classical field theory and standard quantum mechanics operates on flat backgrounds.
  • A participant challenges the assertion that GR is irrelevant when spacetime is flat, suggesting that while flat spacetime allows for the use of special relativity (SR), GR can still be applied if one chooses to do so.
  • Further clarification is provided that special relativity is applicable only to flat spacetime, while general relativity encompasses both flat and curved geometries.
  • One participant introduces the concept of gauge invariants in quantum field theory (QFT), mentioning both flat and curved treatments of relativity, but expresses uncertainty about their relevance to entanglement.
  • Another participant references articles discussing correlations between GR and entanglement, specifically mentioning wormholes and various papers that might contain relevant information, although they express difficulty in locating specific treatments of entanglement within those works.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing views on the relevance of general relativity to quantum entanglement, with some asserting that GR does not apply in flat spacetime, while others suggest that GR can still be relevant. The discussion remains unresolved with multiple competing perspectives on the relationship between the two theories.

Contextual Notes

Participants note limitations in their understanding and the complexity of the topics discussed, including the challenges of navigating extensive literature and the nuances of gauge invariants in QFT.

ryan albery
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The concepts of general relativity seem to fit (sorta) well with quantum physics, but how does the quantum world fit with general relativity? Specifically, I'm wondering if entanglement has any grounds that you can derive from GR?
 
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Entanglement is a purely quantum mechanical phenomenon that arises due to the linearity of the Schrödinger equation when applied to states of composite systems in superpositions of states of the subsystems. GR on the other hand is a purely classical field theory so you certainly cannot "derive" entanglement from it.

EDIT: Furthermore standard QM (and even standard QFT) are done on flat backgrounds so GR doesn't even come into play.
 
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ryan albery said:
So basically you're saying that GR doesn't make a difference in regards to anything, so long as the geometry is 'flat'?

If the space-time geometry is flat there is no gravity so GR is of no relevance.
 
I wish I could wrap my brain around that. A flat spacetime means no GR... is that true?
 
ryan albery said:
I wish I could wrap my brain around that. A flat spacetime means no GR... is that true?

A flat spacetime means you don't need GR and can get by with just SR - although you can use the methods of GR if you wish. Special relativity is "special" because it applies only to the special case of flat zero-curvature spacetime, whereas general relativity works for the general case of any curvature, whether zero or not.

Many GR textbooks start with a general relativistic treatment of flat spacetime, so that the student can get comfortable with the new mathematical machinery in a familiar context.
 
there is both flat and curved treatments of relativity in QFT, referred to as gauge invariants.
types of gauge invarients are curved (space-time) and flat (tangent space) indices; coordinate (space-time) and local Lorentz (tangent space) symmetries. The flat and curved indices of Yang Mills can be found on page 591 on this QFT article. There are numerous other relativity treatments in this article. Been studying it for some time now, however my progress has been slow. Had to improve several fields of study to get even started on this article. So I am by no where near the level of discussion of it with any accuracy.

"Fields"

http://arxiv.org/pdf/hep-th/9912205v3.pdf

edit: I couldn't find any entanglement treatments in this paper. Was checking for it took some time. 885 pages lol
 
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there is some GR correlations to entanglement to GR in these article, however one is dealing with wormholes lol.

Wormholes and Entanglement
http://arxiv.org/pdf/1401.3416.pdf

Action and entanglement in gravity and field theory
http://arxiv.org/pdf/1310.1839v1.pdf

the fields article might have some detail, could be hidden under a metric I didn't recognize, those are the only articles I could find. Hope they help

edit found some more
http://arxiv.org/pdf/1212.5183v1.pdf
Gravitation and vacuum entanglement entropy
http://arxiv.org/abs/1204.6349

if you run through the supportive references, should lead to numerous articles
 
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