2026/01/22 by Junle Pei, Lina Wu, Li‐Na Wu +2
Computer Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Field (mathematics) #Locality #Measure (data warehouse) #Particle physics theoretical and experimental studies #Pseudoscalar #Quantum #Quantum Chromodynamics and Particle Interactions #Quantum Information and Cryptography #Quantum entanglement #Quantum field theory #Scalar (mathematics) #Spin (aerodynamics)
paper · pdf · doi:10.1007/jhep07(2026)154
published in Journal of High Energy Physics 2026(7) (Springer Nature)
openalex publication_date 2026/07/16 · openalex created_date 2026/07/18 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
A bstract We analyze spin entanglement in Λ Λ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:mi>Λ</mml:mi> <mml:mover> <mml:mi>Λ</mml:mi> <mml:mo>¯</mml:mo> </mml:mover> </mml:math> pairs produced in the decays of spin-zero particles, contrasting predictions from quantum field theory (QFT) with those of local hidden-variable theories (LHVTs). Using the self-analyzing weak decays Λ → pπ − and Λ→ pπ+ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:mover> <mml:mi>Λ</mml:mi> <mml:mo>¯</mml:mo> </mml:mover> <mml:mo>→</mml:mo> <mml:mover> <mml:mi>p</mml:mi> <mml:mo>¯</mml:mo> </mml:mover> <mml:msup> <mml:mi>π</mml:mi> <mml:mo>+</mml:mo> </mml:msup> </mml:math> , we derive the joint angular distributions within QFT. Our key findings are: for scalar production h→ Λ Λ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:mi>h</mml:mi> <mml:mo>→</mml:mo> <mml:mi>Λ</mml:mi> <mml:mover> <mml:mi>Λ</mml:mi> <mml:mo>¯</mml:mo> </mml:mover> </mml:math> , no LHVT respecting locality and angular-momentum conservation can reproduce the QFT distribution. For pseudoscalar production a→ Λ Λ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:mi>a</mml:mi> <mml:mo>→</mml:mo> <mml:mi>Λ</mml:mi> <mml:mover> <mml:mi>Λ</mml:mi> <mml:mo>¯</mml:mo> </mml:mover> </mml:math> , a CPT-symmetric LHVT is excluded by positivity constraints given the measured analyzing powers; however, if CPT symmetry is relaxed, an explicit LHVT construction — with uniform hidden-variable measure and response functions satisfying b1c1=3αΛα_Λ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:msub> <mml:mi>b</mml:mi> <mml:mn>1</mml:mn> </mml:msub> <mml:msub> <mml:mi>c</mml:mi> <mml:mn>1</mml:mn> </mml:msub> <mml:mo>=</mml:mo> <mml:mn>3</mml:mn> <mml:msub> <mml:mi>α</mml:mi> <mml:mi>Λ</mml:mi> </mml:msub> <mml:msub> <mml:mi>α</mml:mi> <mml:mover> <mml:mi>Λ</mml:mi> <mml:mo>¯</mml:mo> </mml:mover> </mml:msub> </mml:math> — can match the QFT result. For the most general spin-zero decay s→ Λ Λ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:mi>s</mml:mi> <mml:mo>→</mml:mo> <mml:mi>Λ</mml:mi> <mml:mover> <mml:mi>Λ</mml:mi> <mml:mo>¯</mml:mo> </mml:mover> </mml:math> with arbitrary scalar-pseudoscalar mixing, we, under CPT invariance, identify the regions of parameter space where the QFT joint angular distribution does or does not admit an LHVT realization. These distinct signatures provide clear, experimentally testable criteria to discriminate between QFT and LHVT in Λ Λ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:mi>Λ</mml:mi> <mml:mover> <mml:mi>Λ</mml:mi> <mml:mo>¯</mml:mo> </mml:mover> </mml:math> systems across different production mechanisms.