PhD Comprehensive Exam | Kelly Wurtz, Probing entanglement in quantum field theory: Applications to quantum gravity and black hole thermodynamics

DC 2310

Candidate

Kelly Wurtz | Applied Mathematics, University of Waterloo

Title

Probing entanglement in quantum field theory: Applications to quantum gravity and black hole thermodynamics

Abstract

The exploration of entanglement structure in quantum field theories has yielded profound insights not only into the nature of quantum fields themselves, but also into gravitational theories through the AdS/CFT correspondence. However, computing entanglement between subregions of quantum fields has historically been fraught with difficulties including infinities arising from UV divergences, intractable calculations required for many entanglement measures, and an absence of operational interpretations for both entanglement measures and their corresponding “holographic dual” phenomena. We propose that these challenges could be overcome by examining entanglement within quantum field theories from an entirely operational perspective, in particular that the framework of “particle detector models” integral to relativistic quantum information offers a promising starting point for this endeavor. The research presented here delves into the operational “probing” of entanglement structure, discusses how this approach avoids many standard problems in calculations of entanglement, and speculates on how this framework can be applied in the context of holographic dualit