Witnessing Spin-Orbital Entanglement Using Resonant Inelastic X-Ray Scattering
Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 116504 – Published 20 March, 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/nyxb-nqtq
Abstract
Entanglement plays a central role in quantum technologies, yet its characterization and control in materials remain challenging. Recent developments in spectrum-based entanglement witnesses have enabled new strategies for quantifying many-body entanglement in macroscopic materials. Here, we develop a protocol for detecting spin-orbital entanglement using experiment-accessible resonant inelastic x-ray scattering. Central to our approach is the construction of a Hermitian generator from measurable spectra, which allows us to compute the quantum Fisher information (QFI) available in spin-orbital systems. The resulting QFI provides upper bounds for -producible states and thus serves as a robust witness of spin-orbital entanglement. To account for realistic experimental limitations, we further extend our framework to include relaxed QFI bounds applicable to measurements lacking full polarization resolution.