Entanglement in systems of
strongly interacting particles


Prof. Klaus Capelle

University of Sao Paolo


Friday, 24 November 2006, 15:30
Lecture room F, Theoretical Physics, Sölvegatan 14A

Abstract:
According to quantum mechanics, entanglement is a fundamental property of nature. A simple characterization of entanglement is that when a system is composed of several subsystems, and the wave function of the total system does not factorize into products of the wave functions of these subsystems, the system is in an entangled state. Such entangled states can have surprising properties, which may serve as resources for quantum information technology and quantum computing. As a fundamental property of nature, entangled states can occur even in spatially uniform systems of noninteracting particles. However, if in the future entanglement is to be exploited for technology or computation, we must also consider entanglement in systems composed of strongly interacting particles, such as electrons in a solid, or atoms in an optical trap. Spatial inhomogeneity (an underlying lattice, boundaries, impurities, etc.) is another real-life complication, and we must learn how it affects entanglement. In this talk, I describe recent research --- making use of model Hamiltonians treated with density-functional theory --- on the properties of entangled states in spatially inhomogeneous systems of strongly interacting particles.