Exploring the Concept of Entanglement: Understanding Spin States and Beyond

[Quantom]

Whenever i read or watch something on entanglement all they seem to talk about is the spin states of electrons. And i am confused, does whatever happen to one, the opposite happens to the other or can the same thing happen to both due to entanglement. Does entanglement go further than spin states, say for example if one electron is given energy, would its entangled pair electron gain that same amount of energy (or lose what the other gained)? And what about orientation like if one electron's probability density is shifted left will its entangled pair electron experience the same spatial shift to the right (or left as well)? thanks for your responses in advance.

 

[DrChinese]

Whenever i read or watch something on entanglement all they seem to talk about is the spin states of electrons. And i am confused, does whatever happen to one, the opposite happens to the other or can the same thing happen to both due to entanglement. Does entanglement go further than spin states, say for example if one electron is given energy, would its entangled pair electron gain that same amount of energy (or lose what the other gained)? And what about orientation like if one electron's probability density is shifted left will its entangled pair electron experience the same spatial shift to the right (or left as well)? thanks for your responses in advance.

Yes, entangled particles - be they electrons or the more common photons - share other property combinations than just spin states. Frequency, momentum, position, etc. are also related. They can be entangled in a variety of ways depending on the experimental setup, so there is not one absolute answer. But the general rule is that that a single wave function describes non-commuting properties, and it is often convenient to think in terms of "what happens to one happens to the other". But no-one actually knows what is going on beneath the hood, even though the theoretical predictions are realized experimentally.

 

[Entropia]

It is understandable to have confusion about the concept of entanglement and its relationship with spin states. Entanglement is a phenomenon in quantum mechanics where two or more particles become connected in such a way that the state of one particle is dependent on the state of the other, regardless of the distance between them. This means that if one particle's state is changed, the other particle's state will also change instantaneously, regardless of how far apart they are.

In the case of spin states, entanglement refers to the fact that two particles can become entangled with opposite spin states, meaning that if one particle has a spin up, the other will have a spin down. However, this does not mean that any change in one particle's spin state will cause the opposite change in the other particle's spin state. The entanglement only determines the correlation between the spin states, not the specific values.

Entanglement can also go beyond spin states and can involve other properties of particles, such as energy and orientation. In your example, if one electron is given energy, its entangled partner will not necessarily gain the same amount of energy. However, the overall energy of the entangled system will remain constant, as it is conserved in quantum mechanics.

Similarly, changes in orientation or spatial shift of one particle will not necessarily cause the same changes in its entangled partner. The entanglement only determines the correlation between the two particles, not their specific properties.

Overall, entanglement is a complex and fascinating phenomenon that goes beyond just spin states. It has implications for various areas of research, including quantum computing, cryptography, and teleportation. I hope this response helps clarify some of your confusion about entanglement.