Quantum Information Science in High Energy Physics

Abstract

We demonstrate that several anomalies seen in data from high energy physics experiments have their origin in quantum entanglement, and quantum information science more generally. A few examples are provided that help clarify this proposition. Our research clearly shows that there is a thermal behavior in particle kinematics from high energy collisions at both collider and fixed target experiments that can be attributed to quantum entanglement and entanglement entropy. And in those cases where no quantum entanglement is expected, the thermal component in the kinematics is absent, in agreement with our hypothesis. We show evidence that these phenomena are interaction independent, but process dependent, using results from proton-proton scattering at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and antineutrino-nucleus scattering at Fermilab. That is, this thermal behavior due to quantum entanglement is shown to exist in both the strong and electroweak interactions. However, the process itself must include quantum entanglement in the corresponding wave functions of interacting systems in order for there to be thermalization.