Speeding up entanglement degradation

We present a method for tracking time-dependent entanglement between different modes of a quantum system as measured by observers in different states of relative (nonuniform) motion. By describing states on a given spacelike hypersurface, observers or detectors in different states of motion can detect different modes of excitation in a quantum field at any desired instant and thereby track various measures of entanglement as function of time. We illustrate our method for a scalar field, showing how entanglement degrades as a function of time if one observer begins in a state of inertial motion but ends in a state of uniform acceleration while the other remains inertial.

Figure 1

Logarithmic negativity plotted against $T_0$, with $\nu =K/w$, for various values of $K$ and $w$. (a) The dot line corresponds to $K=0.1$ and $w=1$, (b) the solid line corresponds to $K=0.3$ and $w=1$, (c) the dash line corresponds to $K=0.1$ and $w=5$, and (d) the dash-dot line corresponds to $K=0.3$ and $w=5$

Figure 2

Mutual information plotted against $T_0$, with $\nu =K/w$, for various values of $K$ and $w$. (a) The dot line corresponds to $K=0.1$ and $w=1$, (b) the solid line corresponds to $K=0.3$ and $w=1$, (c) the dash line corresponds to $K=0.1$ and $w=5$, and (d) the dash-dot line corresponds to $K=0.3$ and $w=5$.