Journal of High Energy Physics (May 2025)

Does acceleration always degrade quantum entanglement for tetrapartite Unruh-DeWitt detectors?

  • Si-Han Li,
  • Si-Han Shang,
  • Shu-Min Wu

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP05(2025)214
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 2025, no. 5
pp. 1 – 19

Abstract

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Abstract Previous studies have shown that the Unruh effect completely destroys quantum entanglement and coherence of bipartite states, as modeled by entangled Unruh-DeWitt detectors. But does the Unruh effect have a different impact on quantum entanglement of multipartite states within this framework? In this paper, we investigate the influence of the Unruh effect on 1 − 3 entanglement in the context of entangled tetrapartite Unruh-DeWitt detectors. We find that quantum entanglement of tetrapartite W state first decreases to a minimum value and then increases to a fixed value with the growth of the acceleration. This indicates that the Unruh effect can, under certain conditions, enhance quantum entanglement. In other words, the Unruh effect plays a dual role in the behavior of quantum entanglement-both diminishing and enhancing it. This discovery challenges and overturns the traditional view that the Unruh effect is solely detrimental to quantum entanglement and coherence in entangled Unruh-DeWitt detectors, offering a fresh and profound perspective on its impact.

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