The discussion centers on the assertion that quantum entanglement can only be created locally, with examples including the generation of entangled photon pairs within a crystal. Participants argue that while entanglement swapping can occur, the initial entanglement must be established locally, as evidenced by the requirement for photons to be indistinguishable at the point of measurement. The conversation highlights the instrumentalist interpretation of quantum mechanics, emphasizing that correlations observed in entangled states do not imply non-local interactions but rather local causal events. Key references include experimental proofs of quantum teleportation and entanglement swapping, which demonstrate non-local correlations without direct interaction between photons.
PREREQUISITESQuantum physicists, researchers in quantum information science, and anyone interested in the foundational aspects of quantum mechanics and entanglement phenomena.
Note that this question assumes realism--that entanglement is something that has to be "created". In other words, it is interpretation dependent, as @Cthugha has pointed out.DrChinese said:So how is 1,4 entanglement being created when 1,2,3,4 are all distant from each other?
As the discussion here has shown, this is not true, in the sense that two particles can be entangled without ever having undergone a common local interaction. That is an experimental fact.greypilgrim said:As far as I know, entanglement can initially only be created locally