arXiv subjects

Sergi Nadal-Gisbert

Publications and source records attributed to Sergi Nadal-Gisbert.

11 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Partner-mode overlap as a symplectic-invariant measure of correlations in Gaussian quantum field theories

We introduce a locally symplectic-invariant quantifier of correlations between arbitrary bosonic Gaussian modes, with particular emphasis on quantum field theory. The quantity, denoted by~$\mathcal{D}^{\mathrm{sym}}$, admits a simple geometric interpretation as the symmetric overlap between each mode and the purification partner of the other, providing a direct geometric characterization of how correlations are distributed between modes. We derive a necessary and sufficient criterion for two-mode Gaussian entanglement in terms of $\mathcal{D}^{\mathrm{sym}}$, placing on firm quantitative footing the intuition that the entanglement of a localized mode is encoded in the spatial support of its purification partner. We demonstrate the framework for wavepacket modes of a scalar quantum field in Minkowski spacetime (illustrating how the geometry of partner modes reveals the spatial structure of quantum correlations) and discuss extensions to multimode systems and mixed Gaussian states.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2026

Correlation and Entanglement partners in Gaussian systems

We introduce a framework to identify where the total correlations and entanglement with a chosen degree of freedom reside within the rest of a system, in the context of bosonic many-body Gaussian quantum systems. Our results are organized into two main propositions. First, for pure Gaussian states, we show that every correlated mode possesses a unique single-degree-of-freedom partner that fully captures its correlations (consisting of entanglement), and we provide an explicit construction of this partner from the complex structure of the system's state. Second, for mixed Gaussian states, we constructively demonstrate that the notion of a partner subsystem splits into two: a correlation partner, which contains all classical and quantum correlations and need not correspond to a single degree of freedom, and an entanglement partner, which is always at most single-mode. Finally, we extend the construction of partners to multi-mode subsystems. Together, these results provide conceptual practical tools to study how bipartite correlations and entanglement are structured and where they can be found in complex Gaussian many-body systems.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2026

Bipartite entanglement harvesting with multiple detectors

We study bipartite entanglement harvesting from the quantum vacuum of a massless scalar field between two subsystems, each composed of a finite number of Unruh-DeWitt detectors. Using perturbation theory, we show that the leading-order negativity is fully determined by a submatrix of the reduced density matrix, with the submatrix dimension scaling only linearly with the number of detectors. Within this framework, we analyze how the detectors' spatial arrangement influences harvesting. For all three-detector configurations and several symmetric four-detector configurations, we derive analytic expressions for the negativity and identify the configurations that maximize it. For a linear chain, we find that the harvested entanglement scales linearly with the number of detectors. These results clarify how to arrange multiple detectors to optimize harvesting and show that increasing their number broadens the ranges of energy gaps and separations over which entanglement can be extracted from the field.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2024

The multimode nature of spacetime entanglement in QFT

We demonstrate the presence of multimode entanglement in the vacuum state of a free, massless scalar quantum field in four-dimensional flat spacetime between two sets of field modes, each contained within a spacetime region that is causally disconnected from the other. This is true despite the fact that entanglement between pairs of individual field modes is sparse and appears only when the two individual modes are carefully selected. Our results reveal that, while entanglement between individual modes is limited, bipartite multimode entanglement in quantum field theory is ubiquitous. We further argue that such multimode entanglement is operationally extractable, and it forms the basis of the entanglement commonly discussed in entanglement harvesting protocols.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2024

Low Energy States and CPT invariance at the Big Bang

In this paper, we analyze the quantum vacuum in a radiation-dominated and CPT-invariant universe by further imposing the quantum states to be ultraviolet regular i.e., satisfying the Hadamard/adiabatic condition. For scalar fields, this is enforced by constructing the vacuum via the States of Low Energy proposal. For spin-$\frac{1}{2}$ fields, we extend this proposal for a FLRW spacetime and apply it for the radiation-dominated and CPT-invariant universe. We focus on minimizing the smeared energy density around the Big Bang and give strong evidence that the resulting states satisfy the Hadamard/adiabatic condition. These states are then self-consistent candidates as effective Big Bang quantum vacuum from the field theory perspective.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2023

How ubiquitous is entanglement in quantum field theory?

It is well known that entanglement is widespread in quantum field theory, in the following sense: every Reeh-Schlieder state contains entanglement between any two spatially separated regions. This applies, in particular, to the vacuum of a non-interacting scalar theory in Minkowski spacetime. Discussions on entanglement in field theory have focused mainly on subsystems containing infinitely many degrees of freedom -- typically, the field modes that are supported within a compact region of space. In this article, we study entanglement in subsystems made of finitely many field degrees of freedom, in a free scalar theory in $D+1$-dimensional Minkowski spacetime. The focus on finitely many modes of the field is motivated by the finite capabilities of real experiments. We find that entanglement between finite-dimensional subsystems is {\em not common at all}, and that one needs to carefully select the support of modes for entanglement to show up. We also find that entanglement is increasingly sparser in higher dimensions. We conclude that entanglement in Minkowski spacetime is significantly less ubiquitous than normally thought.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2023

Hadamard and boundary conditions for the Big Bang quantum vacuum

General relativity predicts final-type singularities inside black holes, as well as a cosmological initial-type singularity. Cosmic censorship protects external observers from black hole singularities, while Penrose's Weyl curvature hypothesis protects the smoothness of the initial (Big Bang) singularity. We discuss a simple realization of the Weyl curvature hypothesis by assuming a very early radiation-dominated universe and analytically extending the expansion factor to negative values of conformal time. We impose time-reversal conditions at the Big Bang to characterize a natural set of preferred vacuum states for quantized matter fields. We implement the prescription of States of Low Energy constructed around the Big Bang obtaining Hadamard states. We also explore the physical implications of these vacua for cosmological dark matter production.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2022

Renormalization and a non-adiabatic vacuum choice in a radiation-dominated universe

Vacuum and particles can be naturally defined in the adiabatic regime of an expanding universe. In general, however, there is no preferred choice of a vacuum state, unless the spacetime background possesses special symmetries. In the absence of symmetries the standard viewpoint is to construct distinguished adiabatic states permitting renormalizability of the stress-energy tensor. We study a special non-adiabatic vacuum for a massive scalar field in a radiation-dominated universe defined by imposing early-times conformal symmetry. We show that this state is consistent with renormalization, despite its ultraviolet behaviour is not the conventional one due to the emergence of oscillatory terms.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2021

Renormalization and decoupling for the Yukawa model in curved spacetime

We consider the renormalization of the one-loop effective action for the Yukawa interaction. We compute the beta functions in the generalized DeWitt-Schwinger subtraction scheme. For the quantized scalar field we obtain that all the beta functions exhibit decoupling for heavy fields as stated by the Appelquist-Carazzone theorem including also the gravitational couplings. For the quantized Dirac field, decoupling appears for almost all of them. We obtain the atypical result that the mass parameter of the background scalar field does not decouple.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2021

Note on the pragmatic mode-sum regularization method: translational-splitting in a cosmological background

The point-splitting renormalization method offers a prescription to calculate finite expectation values of quadratic operators constructed from quantum fields in a general curved spacetime. It has been recently shown by Levi and Ori that when the background metric possesses an isometry, like stationary or spherically symmetric black holes, the method can be upgraded into a pragmatic procedure of renormalization that produces efficient numerical calculations. In this note we show that when the background enjoys three-dimensional spatial symmetries, like homogeneous expanding universes, the above pragmatic regularization technique reduces to the well established adiabatic regularization method.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2021

Renormalization, running couplings and decoupling for the Yukawa model in curved spacetime

The decoupling of heavy fields as required by the Appelquist-Carazzone theorem plays a fundamental role in the construction of any effective field theory. However, it is not a trivial task to implement a renormalization prescription that produces the expected decoupling of massive fields, and it is even more difficult in curved spacetime. Focused on this idea, we consider the renormalization of the one-loop effective action for the Yukawa interaction with a background scalar field in curved space. We compute the beta functions within a generalized DeWitt-Schwinger subtraction procedure and discuss the decoupling in the running of the coupling constants. For the case of a quantized scalar field, all the beta function exhibit decoupling, including also the gravitational ones. For a quantized Dirac field, decoupling appears almost for all the beta functions. We obtain the anomalous result that the mass of the background scalar field does not decouple.

gr-qc↗