Negative energy density in superposition and entangled states

2007/05/21 by L. H. Ford, Thomas A. Roman · 1 citation
Computer Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Quantum Electrodynamics and Casimir Effect #Quantum Information and Cryptography #Quantum Mechanics and Applications #gr-qc #hep-th #quant-ph

paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevd.77.045018

published as Phys.Rev.D77:045018,2008 · 21 pages, 5 figures

arxiv created 2007/05/21 · openalex publication_date 2008/02/13 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28

Abstract

We examine the maximum negative energy density which can be attained in various quantum states of a massless scalar field. We consider states in which either one or two modes are excited, and show that the energy density can be given in terms of a small number of parameters. We calculate these parameters for several examples of superposition states for one mode, and entangled states for two modes, and find the maximum magnitude of the negative energy density in these states. We consider several states which have been, or potentially will be, generated in quantum optics experiments.

Citations

• Generating superposition and entanglement of squeezed vacuum states
• Introductory Quantum Optics

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