Quantum discord and entanglement in radiative capture reactions

Area of Science:

• Nuclear Physics
• Quantum Information Science

Background:

• Investigates quantum correlations in radiative-capture reactions.
• Combines density matrix formulations with open quantum system dynamics.

Purpose of the Study:

• Establish universal scaling laws for quantum correlations in nuclear systems.
• Explore the relationship between quantum metrics (discord, entanglement entropy) and nuclear properties.
• Identify optimal nuclear systems for quantum technology applications.

Main Methods:

• Utilized density matrix formulations and open quantum system dynamics.
• Developed a machine learning architecture integrating physical constraints with deep residual networks.
• Analyzed fourteen nuclear systems across six decades of decay width.

Main Results:

• Discovered inverse power-law dependencies between quantum discord/entanglement entropy and decay width.
• Achieved 92% prediction accuracy for coherence lengths using machine learning.
• Identified shell structure effects enhancing quantum correlations near magic numbers.
• Observed persistent quantum discord in systems with sub-attometer coherence lengths, suggesting internal degrees of freedom maintain non-classical correlations.

Conclusions:

• Radiative capture reactions serve as a novel platform for exploring quantum phenomena.
• Developed a phase diagram categorizing nuclear reactions into quantum technology regimes (memory, sensing, foundational tests).
• Identified 56Fe and 7Li as optimal candidates for quantum applications.
• Bridged nuclear physics and quantum information science, offering insights into decoherence and tools for quantum material design.