Interference-induced entanglement in an effectively zero-lifetime particle pair

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Wu, Xin, Li, Xinbai, Tang, Zebo, Wang, Yusong, Zha, Wangmei
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
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_version_ 1866911399471480832
author Wu, Xin
Li, Xinbai
Tang, Zebo
Wang, Yusong
Zha, Wangmei
author_facet Wu, Xin
Li, Xinbai
Tang, Zebo
Wang, Yusong
Zha, Wangmei
contents Quantum entanglement in high-energy collisions is often obscured by finite lifetimes, dynamical evolution, and final-state interactions, complicating the identification of genuinely quantum correlations. Ultra-peripheral heavy-ion collisions provide a clean benchmark via the Drell-S${\rm\ddot{o}ding}$ production of nonresonant pion pair, realizing an effectively zero-lifetime particle pair whose quantum correlations are fixed at production and remain robust against subsequent elastic scattering. The coherent superposition of photoproduction amplitudes from two indistinguishable nuclei encodes the linear polarization of quasi-real photons in the orbital motion of the pair, generating a nonfactorizable two-particle quantum state. This entanglement leaves a direct experimental imprint: a characteristic second-harmonic azimuthal modulation in momentum space arising from spin-dependent interference between the two sources. In this paper, we establish a quantitative framework for Drell-S${\rm\ddot{o}ding}$ pion-pair production in relativistic heavy-ion collisions and predict the magnitude and transverse-momentum dependence of the entanglement-induced azimuthal asymmetry. Our results provide experimentally accessible signatures of interference-induced entanglement and a controlled test of quantum coherence in relativistic environments.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2601_18503
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Interference-induced entanglement in an effectively zero-lifetime particle pair
Wu, Xin
Li, Xinbai
Tang, Zebo
Wang, Yusong
Zha, Wangmei
High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
Quantum entanglement in high-energy collisions is often obscured by finite lifetimes, dynamical evolution, and final-state interactions, complicating the identification of genuinely quantum correlations. Ultra-peripheral heavy-ion collisions provide a clean benchmark via the Drell-S${\rm\ddot{o}ding}$ production of nonresonant pion pair, realizing an effectively zero-lifetime particle pair whose quantum correlations are fixed at production and remain robust against subsequent elastic scattering. The coherent superposition of photoproduction amplitudes from two indistinguishable nuclei encodes the linear polarization of quasi-real photons in the orbital motion of the pair, generating a nonfactorizable two-particle quantum state. This entanglement leaves a direct experimental imprint: a characteristic second-harmonic azimuthal modulation in momentum space arising from spin-dependent interference between the two sources. In this paper, we establish a quantitative framework for Drell-S${\rm\ddot{o}ding}$ pion-pair production in relativistic heavy-ion collisions and predict the magnitude and transverse-momentum dependence of the entanglement-induced azimuthal asymmetry. Our results provide experimentally accessible signatures of interference-induced entanglement and a controlled test of quantum coherence in relativistic environments.
title Interference-induced entanglement in an effectively zero-lifetime particle pair
topic High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.18503