- Physical Review Journals
All JournalsPhysics Magazine

Physical Review D

Reuse & Permissions

It is not necessary to obtain permission to reuse this article or its components as it is available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI are maintained. Please note that some figures may have been included with permission from other third parties. It is your responsibility to obtain the proper permission from the rights holder directly for these figures.

Export citation

Export citation

Choose format for download:

Download Citation
  • Open Access

Decoherence effects in entangled fermion pairs at colliders

Rafael Aoude1,*, Alan J. Barr2,†, Fabio Maltoni3,4,‡, and Leonardo Satrioni3,1,§

  • *Contact author: rafael.aoude@ed.ac.uk
  • †Contact author: alan.barr@physics.ox.ac.uk
  • ‡Contact author: fabio.maltoni@unibo.it
  • §Contact author: leonardo.satrioni@studio.unibo.it
PDF

Phys. Rev. D 113, 076007 – Published 6 April, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/yjgh-f2gw

Abstract

Recent measurements at the Large Hadron Collider have observed entanglement in the spins of tt¯ pairs. The effects of radiation, which are expected to lead to quantum decoherence and a reduction of entanglement, are generally neglected in such measurements. In this work we calculate the effects of decoherence from various different types of radiation for a maximally entangled pair of fermions—a bipartite system of qubits in a Bell state. We identify the Kraus operators describing the evolution of the open quantum system with the integrated Altarelli-Parisi splitting functions.

View figure in article

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Article Text

Supplemental Material

References (84)

  1. R. Horodecki, P. Horodecki, M. Horodecki, and K. Horodecki, Rev. Mod. Phys. 81, 865 (2009).
  2. Y. Afik and J. R. M. n. de Nova, Eur. Phys. J. Plus 136, 907 (2021).
  3. C. Severi, C. D. E. Boschi, F. Maltoni, and M. Sioli, Eur. Phys. J. C 82, 285 (2022).
  4. R. Aoude, E. Madge, F. Maltoni, and L. Mantani, Phys. Rev. D 106, 055007 (2022).
  5. Y. Afik and J. R. M. n. de Nova, Quantum 6, 820 (2022).
  6. Y. Afik and J. R. M. n. de Nova, Phys. Rev. Lett. 130, 221801 (2023).
  7. A. J. Barr, P. Caban, and J. Rembieliński, Quantum 7, 1070 (2023).
  8. C. Severi and E. Vryonidou, J. High Energy Phys. 01 (2023) 148.
  9. R. Ashby-Pickering, A. J. Barr, and A. Wierzchucka, J. High Energy Phys. 05 (2023) 020.
  10. J. A. Aguilar-Saavedra, A. Bernal, J. A. Casas, and J. M. Moreno, Phys. Rev. D 107, 016012 (2023).
  11. J. A. Aguilar-Saavedra, Phys. Rev. D 107, 076016 (2023).
  12. M. Fabbrichesi, R. Floreanini, and E. Gabrielli, Eur. Phys. J. C 83, 162 (2023).
  13. J. A. Aguilar-Saavedra and J. A. Casas, Eur. Phys. J. C 82, 666 (2022).
  14. F. Fabbri, J. Howarth, and T. Maurin, Eur. Phys. J. C 84, 20 (2024).
  15. R. Aoude, E. Madge, F. Maltoni, and L. Mantani, J. High Energy Phys. 12 (2023) 017.
  16. T. Han, M. Low, and T. A. Wu, J. High Energy Phys. 07 (2024) 192.
  17. M. Fabbrichesi, R. Floreanini, E. Gabrielli, and L. Marzola, Eur. Phys. J. C 83, 823 (2023).
  18. K. Sakurai and M. Spannowsky, Phys. Rev. Lett. 132, 151602 (2024).
  19. C. Altomonte and A. J. Barr, Phys. Lett. B 847, 138303 (2023).
  20. Y. Afik, Y. Kats, J. R. M. n. de Nova, A. Soffer, and D. Uzan, arXiv:2406.04402.
  21. J. A. Aguilar-Saavedra, Phys. Lett. B 855, 138849 (2024).
  22. J. A. Aguilar-Saavedra, Phys. Rev. D 109, 113004 (2024).
  23. R. Grabarczyk, arXiv:2410.18022.
  24. R. A. Morales, Eur. Phys. J. C 84, 581 (2024).
  25. C. D. White and M. J. White, Phys. Rev. D 110, 116016 (2024).
  26. C. Altomonte, A. J. Barr, M. Eckstein, P. Horodecki, and K. Sakurai, arXiv:2412.01892.
  27. T. Han, M. Low, N. McGinnis, and S. Su, arXiv:2412.21158.
  28. Q. Liu, I. Low, and Z. Yin, arXiv:2503.03098.
  29. A. J. Barr, M. Fabbrichesi, R. Floreanini, E. Gabrielli, and L. Marzola, Prog. Part. Nucl. Phys. 139, 104134 (2024).
  30. G. Aad et al. (ATLAS Collaboration), Nature (London) 633, 542 (2024).
  31. A. Hayrapetyan et al. (CMS Collaboration), Rep. Prog. Phys. 87, 117801 (2024).
  32. A. Hayrapetyan et al. (CMS Collaboration), arXiv:2409.11067.
  33. A. F. Falk and M. E. Peskin, Phys. Rev. D 49, 3320 (1994).
  34. M. J. Strassler and M. E. Peskin, Phys. Rev. D 43, 1500 (1991).
  35. G. Mahlon and S. J. Parke, Phys. Rev. D 81, 074024 (2010).
  36. A. Behring, M. Czakon, A. Mitov, A. S. Papanastasiou, and R. Poncelet, Phys. Rev. Lett. 123, 082001 (2019).
  37. M. Czakon, A. Mitov, and R. Poncelet, J. High Energy Phys. 05 (2021) 212.
  38. J. Mazzitelli, P. F. Monni, P. Nason, E. Re, M. Wiesemann, and G. Zanderighi, J. High Energy Phys. 04 (2022) 079.
  39. S. Groote and J. G. Korner, Phys. Rev. D 80, 034001 (2009).
  40. S. Groote, J. G. Korner, B. Melic, and S. Prelovsek, Phys. Rev. D 83, 054018 (2011).
  41. S. Groote, J. G. Korner, and J. A. Leyva, Eur. Phys. J. C 63, 391 (2009); 74, 2789(E) (2014).
  42. W. Bernreuther, D. Heisler, and Z.-G. Si, J. High Energy Phys. 12 (2015) 026.
  43. R. Frederix, I. Tsinikos, and T. Vitos, Eur. Phys. J. C 81, 817 (2021).
  44. H. D. Zeh, Found. Phys. 1, 69 (1970).
  45. W. H. Zurek, Phys. Rev. D 24, 1516 (1981).
  46. W. H. Zurek, Phys. Rev. D 26, 1862 (1982).
  47. J. P. Paz and W. H. Zurek, Environment-induced decoherence and the transition from quantum to classical, in Coherent Atomic Matter Waves (Springer, Berlin Heidelberg, 2000), pp. 533–614.
  48. W. H. Zurek, arXiv:quant-ph/0306072.
  49. R. A. Bertlmann, Lect. Notes Phys. 689, 1 (2006).
  50. C. P. Burgess, T. Colas, R. Holman, and G. Kaplanek, J. High Energy Phys. 02 (2025) 204.
  51. S. A. Salcedo, T. Colas, and E. Pajer, J. High Energy Phys. 10 (2024) 248.
  52. S. A. Salcedo, T. Colas, and E. Pajer, J. High Energy Phys. 03 (2025) 138.
  53. D. Carney, L. Chaurette, D. Neuenfeld, and G. W. Semenoff, Phys. Rev. Lett. 119, 180502 (2017).
  54. D. Carney, L. Chaurette, D. Neuenfeld, and G. W. Semenoff, Phys. Rev. D 97, 025007 (2018).
  55. D. Carney, L. Chaurette, D. Neuenfeld, and G. Semenoff, J. High Energy Phys. 09 (2018) 121.
  56. D. Neuenfeld, J. High Energy Phys. 11 (2021) 189.
  57. G. W. Semenoff, Springer Proc. Math. Stat. 335, 151 (2019).
  58. M. Schlosshauer, Phys. Rep. 831, 1 (2019).
  59. L. Aolita, F. de Melo, and L. Davidovich, Rep. Prog. Phys. 78, 042001 (2015).
  60. T. N. Tomaras and N. Toumbas, Phys. Rev. D 101, 065006 (2020).
  61. A. Irakleous, T. N. Tomaras, and N. Toumbas, Eur. Phys. J. C 81, 745 (2021).
  62. J. C. Collins, Nucl. Phys. B304, 794 (1988).
  63. I. Knowles, Nucl. Phys. B304, 767 (1988).
  64. Z. Nagy and D. E. Soper, J. High Energy Phys. 09 (2007) 114.
  65. Z. Nagy and D. E. Soper, J. High Energy Phys. 07 (2008) 025.
  66. Z. Nagy and D. E. Soper, J. High Energy Phys. 03 (2008) 030.
  67. Z. Nagy and D. E. Soper, J. High Energy Phys. 06 (2012) 044.
  68. P. Richardson, J. High Energy Phys. 11 (2001) 029.
  69. P. Richardson and S. Webster, Eur. Phys. J. C 80, 83 (2020).
  70. K. Hamilton, A. Karlberg, G. P. Salam, L. Scyboz, and R. Verheyen, J. High Energy Phys. 03 (2022) 193.
  71. See Supplemental Material at http://link.aps.org/supplemental/10.1103/yjgh-f2gw for more details, which includes [72,73].
  72. G. Passarino and M. J. G. Veltman, Nucl. Phys. B160, 151 (1979).
  73. F. Maltoni, D. Pagani, and S. Tentori, J. High Energy Phys. 09 (2024) 098.
  74. T. Kinoshita, J. Math. Phys. (N.Y.) 3, 650 (1962).
  75. T. D. Lee and M. Nauenberg, Phys. Rev. 133, B1549 (1964).
  76. E. Braaten and J. P. Leveille, Phys. Rev. D 22, 715 (1980).
  77. M. Drees and K. ichi Hikasa, Phys. Lett. B 240, 455 (1990).
  78. P. Janot, Phys. Lett. B 223, 110 (1989).
  79. B. A. Kniehl, Nucl. Phys. B376, 3 (1992).
  80. G. Altarelli and G. Parisi, Nucl. Phys. B126, 298 (1977).
  81. A. Karlberg, G. P. Salam, L. Scyboz, and R. Verheyen, Eur. Phys. J. C 81, 681 (2021).
  82. J. Kublbeck, H. Eck, and R. Mertig, Nucl. Phys. B, Proc. Suppl. 29, 204 (1992).
  83. V. Shtabovenko, R. Mertig, and F. Orellana, Comput. Phys. Commun. 207, 432 (2016).
  84. V. Shtabovenko, R. Mertig, and F. Orellana, Comput. Phys. Commun. 256, 107478 (2020).

Outline

Information

Phys. Rev. D 113, 076007– Published 6 April, 2026
  • Received 24 May 2025
  • Accepted 5 March 2026
Crossmark - Check for updates button
Creative Commons Logo

Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI.

Published by the American Physical Society

Sign In to Your Journals Account

Filter

Filter

Article Lookup

Enter a citation