Gravitationally induced entanglement at finite temperature: A memory-driven time-crystalline phase?
Year: 2025
Type: preprint
Abstract: We study the impact of thermal effects on gravity-induced entanglement (GIE) in a system of quantum harmonic oscillators interacting with classical linearly polarized gravitational waves (GWs). Specifically, we model the endpoints of interferometer arms in LIGO-like detectors as two-dimensional oscillators. Following the thermofield dynamics (TFD) approach, our analysis reveals that while thermal effects alone do not generate entanglement between independent oscillator modes, they serve as a catalyst, modifying the dynamical imprint of GWs. Notably, we identify a mixing of Bose-Einstein and Maxwell-Boltzmann distributions driven by thermal influences, which affects the statistical behavior of the quantum subsystem. Furthermore, gravitational interactions induce a quantum memory effect, leading to emergent periodic behavior in the reduced subsystem. This suggests a novel gravitationally induced breaking of time-translation symmetry, reminiscent of a prethermal time crystal (PTC). Our findings indicate that such effects could provide new theoretical insights into classical gravitational wave interactions.
Source: arXiv (Cornell University)
Authors: Dutta, Mainak, Nandi, Partha, Majhi, Bibhas Ranjan
Language: English
Subfield: Astronomy and Astrophysics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W6979284687
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