en.Wedoany.com Reported - The research group led by Qimiao Si at Rice University has published a paper in Nature Communications, proposing a new method to enhance and utilize quantum entanglement in macroscopic systems through the coupling of quantum light with quantum materials.

Quantum entanglement, a phenomenon typically observed only in quantum systems composed of a few particles, allows researchers to store and process quantum information. Whether quantum entanglement can exist and be utilized in macroscopic systems containing a large number of particles is a current challenge in physics. Qimiao Si is the Harry C. and Olga K. Wiess Professor of Physics and Astronomy and the director of the Extreme Quantum Materials Alliance.

The core idea of this theory is to place a quantum material in a small mirror cavity and bring it close to a quantum critical point. When photons are introduced, the interaction threshold required for hybrid entanglement between photons and matter is significantly reduced. Creating such cavity photon-matter hybrids has long been a challenge because it requires extremely strong light-matter interactions that are difficult to achieve engineering-wise. This new theory proposes that by bringing the material close to its quantum critical point, the threshold for entering the hybrid entangled state can be lowered.

Yiming Wang, a Rice University graduate student and co-first author of the study, explained that a quantum critical point is the critical point at which a material "chooses" between two different quantum phases. The material resides in one phase and can only transition to the second phase upon reaching the quantum critical point. In this theory, researchers can enhance light-matter entanglement through non-thermal methods, such as applying pressure or altering chemical composition. The closer the material is to the quantum critical point, the lower the threshold for strong quantum entanglement. Introducing light into the mirror cavity then makes entangling the two much easier.

Shouvik Sur, a former postdoctoral researcher at Rice University and co-first author of the paper, noted that once light and matter become entangled, their individual properties reflect each other. When the material enters the quantum critical point while entangled with light and transitions to the second phase, the light also undergoes a corresponding transition.

Last year, Qimiao Si's team discovered that quantum entanglement both exists and is enhanced in quantum critical materials known as strange metals. This quantum entanglement could be a vital resource for quantum technologies—if scientists can find a way to extract it. This new theory allows for the extraction of quantum entanglement via quantum light: after photons and matter become entangled, the light can be extracted from the cavity. Such a system could support the development of next-generation technologies, such as quantum sensing.

Qimiao Si stated that ultimately, this reveals a pathway to harness quantum light for accessing quantum entanglement in matter, potentially laying the foundation for extracting quantum entanglement resources and realizing new functionalities in quantum materials.

This research was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences Program (DE-SC0026179), the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (FA9550-21-1-0356), the Robert A. Welch Foundation (C-1411), and the Vannevar Bush Faculty Fellowship (ONR-VB N00014-23-1-2870).

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