Work

Entanglement Equilibrium and the Einstein Equation

Year: 2016

Type: article

Abstract: A link between the semiclassical Einstein equation and a maximal vacuum entanglement hypothesis is established. The hypothesis asserts that entanglement entropy in small geodesic balls is maximized at fixed volume in a locally maximally symmetric vacuum state of geometry and quantum fields. A qualitative argument suggests that the Einstein equation implies the validity of the hypothesis. A more precise argument shows that, for first-order variations of the local vacuum state of conformal quantum fields, the vacuum entanglement is stationary if and only if the Einstein equation holds. For nonconformal fields, the same conclusion follows modulo a conjecture about the variation of entanglement entropy.

Source: Physical Review Letters

DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.116.201101

Author: Ted Jacobson

Institutions: University of California, Santa Barbara, Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of Maryland, College Park

Language: English

Topic: Black Holes and Theoretical Physics

Subfield: Nuclear and High Energy Physics

Field: Physics and Astronomy

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funder: National Science Foundation

Awards: G258938352, Gravitation and Black Holes: From Magnetospheres to Firewalls