Talk by Jaime Calderón-Figueroa

Speaker:  Jaime Calderón-Figueroa, The University of Edinburg

Place: The Cloud

Date: Thursday Dec 16th

Time: 11am Central.

Zoom Link

https://lsu.zoom.us/j/6541089114

Title:  Universal signature of quantum entanglement across cosmological distances

Abstract: 

In this talk, I will discuss observable effects of primordial quantum entanglement between short- and long-wavelength scalar perturbations sourced during inflation. We point out that this is not just an extra assumption for a particular inflationary model, but rather an inescapable consequence of the interaction between system and environment degrees of freedom, which, among other things, is responsible for the quantum-to-classical transition of primordial perturbations. The effects of entanglement are computed using open QFT techniques, which allow to account for the non-unitary evolution of the system via the master equation for the reduced density matrix. We consider the process to be mediated by the leading gravitational nonlinearities in the Einstein-Hilbert action, which allows us to find a universal lower bound of the effects of entanglement in single-field slow-roll inflation. This reveals new predictions for inflation and highlights the underdeveloped link between quantum information theory and cosmology.