Extension of worldline computational algorithms for QCD to open fermionic contours

The worldline casting of a gauge field system with spin-1/2 matter fields has provided a, particle-based, first quantization formalism in the framework of which the Bern-Kosower algorithms for efficient computations in QCD acquire a simple interpretation. This paper extends the scope of applicability of the worldline scheme so as to include open fermionic paths. Specific algorithms are established which address themselves to the fermionic propagator and which are directly applicable to any other process involving external fermionic states. It is also demonstrated that in this framework the sole agent of dynamics operating in the system is the Wilson line (loop) operator, which makes a natural entrance in the worldline action; everything else is associated with geometrical properties of particle propagation, of which the most important component is Polyakov's spin factor.Comment: 24 page

Mutual information and Bose-Einstein condensation

In the present work we are studying a bosonic quantum field system at finite temperature, and at zero and non-zero chemical potential. For a simple spatial partition we derive the corresponding mutual information, a quantity that measures the total amount of information of one of the parts about the other. In order to find it, we first derive the geometric entropy corresponding to the specific partition and then we substract its extensive part which coincides with the thermal entropy of the system. In the case of non-zero chemical potential, we examine the influence of the underlying Bose-Einstein condensation on the behavior of the mutual information, and we find that its thermal derivative possesses a finite discontinuity at exactly the critical temperature

Entropy production in Gaussian bosonic transformations using the replica method: application to quantum optics

In spite of their simple description in terms of rotations or symplectic transformations in phase space, quadratic Hamiltonians such as those modeling the most common Gaussian operations on bosonic modes remain poorly understood in terms of entropy production. For instance, determining the von Neumann entropy produced by a Bogoliubov transformation is notably a hard problem, with generally no known analytical solution. Here, we overcome this difficulty by using the replica method, a tool borrowed from statistical physics and quantum field theory. We exhibit a first application of this method to the field of quantum optics, where it enables accessing entropies in a two-mode squeezer or optical parametric amplifier. As an illustration, we determine the entropy generated by amplifying a binary superposition of the vacuum and an arbitrary Fock state, which yields a surprisingly simple, yet unknown analytical expression