We construct a relativistic quantum communication channel between two localized qubit systems, mediated by a relativistic quantum field, that can achieve the theoretical maximum for the quantum capacity in arbitrary curved spacetimes using the Unruh-DeWitt detector formalism. Using techniques from algebraic quantum field theory, we express the quantum capacity of the quantum communication channel purely in terms of the correlation functions of the field and the causal propagator for the wave equation. Consequently, the resulting quantum channel, and hence the quantum capacity, are by construction manifestly covariant, respect the causal structure of spacetime, and are independent of the details of the background geometry, topology, and the choice of Hilbert space (quasifree) representations of the field.
Zitterbewegung, as it was originally described by Schrödinger, is an unphysical, non-observable effect. We verify whether the effect can be observed in non-inertial reference frames/curved spacetimes, where the ambiguity in defining particle states results in a mixing of positive and negative frequency modes. We explicitly demonstrate that such a mixing is in fact necessary to obtain the correct classical value for a particle's velocity in a uniformly accelerated reference frame, whereas in cosmological spacetime a particle does indeed exhibit Zitterbewegung.
The representation of measurements by positive operator valued measures and the description of the most general state transformations by means of completely positive maps are two basic concepts of quantum information theory. These concepts can be trivially extended to field theories in curved spacetime if all the representations of canonical commutation or anticommutation relations are unitarily equivalent. We show that both concepts can be applied even when there is no such unitary equivalence.
A quantum mechanical path integral derivation is given of a thermal propagator in non-static Gui spacetime. The thermal nature of the propagator is understood in terms of homotopically non-trivial paths in the configuration space appropriate to tortoise coordinates. The connection to thermal emission from collapsing black holes is discussed.
The propagator of a spinless particle is calculated from the quantum mechanical path integral formalism in static curved spacetimes endowed with event-horizons. A toy model, the Gui spacetime, and the 2D and 4D Schwarzschild black holes are considered. The role of the topology of the coordinates configuration space is emphasised in this framework. To cover entirely the above spacetimes with a single set of coordinates, tortoise coordinates are extended to complex values. It is shown that the homotopic properties of the complex tortoise configuration space imply the thermal behaviour of the pro…
We prove that conformal curved spacetime can be encoded into the initial wave function and that curved propagation can be simulated on a two-dimensional regular lattice with a finite set of homogeneous unitary operators. We generalize recent results shown in [1], where the author transforms flat-spacetime in curved static spacetime via non-unitary rotations. In particular, encoding the metric in the initial quantum state via unitary local rotations, can naturally be useful for quantum simulators due to the efficiency and simplicity of the implementation scheme. We validate our model proving th…
We propose a fully covariant model for smeared particle detectors in quantum field theory in curved spacetimes. We show how effects related to accelerated motion of the detector and the curvature of spacetime influence the way different observers assign an interaction Hamiltonian between the detector and the field. The fully covariant formulation explicitly leaves the physical predictions of the theory invariant under general coordinate transformations, hence providing a description of particle detector models (e.g., Unruh-DeWitt detectors, models for the light-matter interaction, etc) that is…
We show how to transform a Dirac equation in curved spacetime into a Dirac equation in flat spacetime. In particular, we show that any solution of the free massless Dirac equation in a 1+1 dimensional flat spacetime can be transformed via a local phase transformation into a solution of the corresponding Dirac equation in a curved background, where the spacetime metric is encoded into the phase. In this way, the existing quantum simulators of the Dirac equation can naturally incorporate curved spacetimes. As a first example we use our technique to obtain solutions of the Dirac equation in a par…
Generalizing to relativistic exponential scaling and using the theory of noise from quantum fluctuations, it has been shown that one vacuum (Rindler, Hartle-Hawking, or Gibbons-Hawking for the cases of the uniformly accelerated detector, black hole, and de-Sitter universe, respectively) can be understood as resulting from the scaling of quantum noise in another vacuum. We explore this idea more generally to establish a flat spacetime and curved spacetime analogy. For this purpose, we start by examining noise kernels for free fields in some well-known curved spacetimes, e.g., the spacetime of a…
A boundary undergoing relativistic motion can create particles from quantum vacuum fluctuations in a phenomenon known as the dynamical Casimir effect. We examine the creation of particles, and more generally the transformation of quantum field states, due to boundary motion in curved spacetime. We provide a novel method enabling the calculation of the effect for a wide range of trajectories and spacetimes. We apply this to the experimental scenario used to detect the dynamical Casimir effect, now adopting the Schwarzschild metric, and find novel resonances in particle creation as a result of t…
We extend complete complementarity relations to curved spacetimes by considering a succession of infinitesimal local Lorentz transformations, which implies that complementarity remains valid as the quanton travels through its world line and the complementarity aspects in different points of spacetime are connected. This result allows the study of these different complementary aspects of a quantum system as it travels through spacetime. In particular, we study the behavior of these different complementary properties of massive spin-$1/2$ particles in the Schwarzschild spacetime. For geodetic ci…
The relativistic acceleration of an electron in a uniform gravitational field is calculated numerically using the generalization of the Dirac equation to curved spacetime. Equivalent results are also obtained analytically using an iterative approach that is not based on the WKB approximation, which has been used extensively in the past. The acceleration is found to be proportional to a factor of $(1-3v^2/c^2)$ using Schwarzschild coordinates, which is consistent with the classical geodesic of a particle. These techniques may be useful in resolving the differences between commonly-used approxim…
We present some new ideas on how to design analogue models of quantum fields living in curved spacetimes using ultra-cold atoms in optical lattices. We discuss various types of static and dynamical curved spacetimes achievable by simple manipulations of the optical setup. Examples presented here contain two-dimensional spaces of positive and negative curvature as well as homogeneous cosmological models and metric waves. Most of them are extendable to three spatial dimensions. We mention some interesting phenomena of quantum field theory in curved spacetimes which might be simulated in such opt…
Bosonization in curved spacetime maps massive Thirring model (self-interacting Dirac fermions) to a generalized sine-Gordon model, both living in $1+1$-dimensional curved spacetime. Applying this duality we have shown that the Thirring model fermion, in non-relativistic limit, gets identified with the soliton of non-linear Scrodinger model with Kerr form of non-linearity. We discuss one particular optical soliton in the latter model and relate it with the Thirring model fermion.
We examine the use of noiseless subsystems for quantum information processing between two parties who do not share a common reference frame. In particular we focus on Bell inequalities in curved spaces and outline a theoretical procedure to test a Bell inequality, demonstrating the wide applicability of noiseless subsystems.
We consider Dirac equation in $(2+1)$ dimensional curved spacetime in the presence of a scalar potential. It is then shown that the zero energy states are degenerate and they can be obtained when the momentum $k_y$ in the $y$ direction satisfies certain constraints involving the mass parameter and the scalar potential coupling.
A discrete-time Quantum Walk (QW) is essentially an operator driving the evolution of a single particle on the lattice, through local unitaries. Some QWs admit a continuum limit, leading to familiar PDEs (e.g. the Dirac equation). Recently it was discovered that prior grouping and encoding allows for more general continuum limit equations (e.g. the Dirac equation in $(1+1)$ curved spacetime). In this paper, we extend these results to arbitrary space dimension and internal degree of freedom. We recover an entire class of PDEs encompassing the massive Dirac equation in $(3+1)$ curved spacetime. …
A discrete-time Quantum Walk (QW) is essentially a unitary operator driving the evolution of a single particle on the lattice. Some QWs admit a continuum limit, leading to familiar PDEs (e.g. the Dirac equation). In this paper, we study the continuum limit of a wide class of QWs, and show that it leads to an entire class of PDEs, encompassing the Hamiltonian form of the massive Dirac equation in $(1+1)$ curved spacetime. Therefore a certain QW, which we make explicit, provides us with a unitary discrete toy model of a test particle in curved spacetime, in spite of the fixed background lattice.…
We show how the universal low-energy properties of Weyl semimetals with spatially varying time-reversal (TR) or inversion (I) symmetry breaking are described in terms of chiral fermions experiencing curved-\emph{spacetime} geometry and synthetic gauge fields. By employing Clifford representations and Schrieffer-Wolff transformations, we present a systematic derivation of an effective curved-space Weyl theory with rich geometric and gauge structure. To illustrate the utility of the formalism, we give a concrete prescription of how to fabricate nontrivial curved spacetimes and event horizons in …
A discrete-time Quantum Walk (QW) is an operator driving the evolution of a single particle on the lattice, through local unitaries. Some QW admit, as their continuum limit, a well-known equation of Physics. In arXiv:1803.01015 the QW is over the honeycomb and triangular lattices, and simulates the Dirac equation. We apply a spacetime coordinate transformation upon the lattice of this QW, and show that it is equivalent to introducing spacetime-dependent local unitaries --- whilst keeping the lattice fixed. By exploiting this duality between changes in geometry, and changes in local unitaries, …
We present the fundamental solutions for the spin-1/2 fields propagating in the spacetimes with power type expansion/contraction and the fundamental solution of the Cauchy problem for the Dirac equation. The derivation of these fundamental solutions is based on formulas for the solutions to the generalized Euler-Poisson-Darboux equation, which are obtained by the integral transform approach.
