Physical interpretation of the Wigner rotations and its implications for relativistic quantum information
We present a new treatment for the spin of a massive relativistic particle in the context of quantum information based on a physical interpretation of the Wigner rotations, obtaining different results in relation to previous works. We are led to the conclusion that it is not possible to define a red...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Journal article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2012
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| _version_ | 1797099851388813312 |
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| author | Saldanha, P Vedral, V |
| author_facet | Saldanha, P Vedral, V |
| author_sort | Saldanha, P |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | We present a new treatment for the spin of a massive relativistic particle in the context of quantum information based on a physical interpretation of the Wigner rotations, obtaining different results in relation to previous works. We are led to the conclusion that it is not possible to define a reduced density matrix for the particle spin and that the Pauli-Lubanski (or similar) spin operators are not suitable for describing measurements where the spin couples to an electromagnetic field in the measuring apparatus. These conclusions contradict the assumptions made by most of the previous papers on the subject. We also propose an experimental test of our formulation. © IOP Publishing Ltd and Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T05:29:30Z |
| format | Journal article |
| id | oxford-uuid:e1bd90c1-859e-4650-bd30-1cfbb013e1a8 |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T05:29:30Z |
| publishDate | 2012 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:e1bd90c1-859e-4650-bd30-1cfbb013e1a82022-03-27T09:56:27ZPhysical interpretation of the Wigner rotations and its implications for relativistic quantum informationJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:e1bd90c1-859e-4650-bd30-1cfbb013e1a8EnglishSymplectic Elements at OxfordIOP Publishing2012Saldanha, PVedral, VWe present a new treatment for the spin of a massive relativistic particle in the context of quantum information based on a physical interpretation of the Wigner rotations, obtaining different results in relation to previous works. We are led to the conclusion that it is not possible to define a reduced density matrix for the particle spin and that the Pauli-Lubanski (or similar) spin operators are not suitable for describing measurements where the spin couples to an electromagnetic field in the measuring apparatus. These conclusions contradict the assumptions made by most of the previous papers on the subject. We also propose an experimental test of our formulation. © IOP Publishing Ltd and Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft. |
| spellingShingle | Saldanha, P Vedral, V Physical interpretation of the Wigner rotations and its implications for relativistic quantum information |
| title | Physical interpretation of the Wigner rotations and its implications for relativistic quantum information |
| title_full | Physical interpretation of the Wigner rotations and its implications for relativistic quantum information |
| title_fullStr | Physical interpretation of the Wigner rotations and its implications for relativistic quantum information |
| title_full_unstemmed | Physical interpretation of the Wigner rotations and its implications for relativistic quantum information |
| title_short | Physical interpretation of the Wigner rotations and its implications for relativistic quantum information |
| title_sort | physical interpretation of the wigner rotations and its implications for relativistic quantum information |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT saldanhap physicalinterpretationofthewignerrotationsanditsimplicationsforrelativisticquantuminformation AT vedralv physicalinterpretationofthewignerrotationsanditsimplicationsforrelativisticquantuminformation |