At a Glance
- Physicists have struggled to understand quantum entanglement in systems with more than one dimension, which has limited progress in both theoretical and quantum technology applications.
- A research team successfully applied thermal effective theory, a tool from particle physics, to find universal patterns governing entanglement in all spatial dimensions.
- The team derived a new formula for Rényi entropy, a key measure of entanglement, demonstrating that it depends on fundamental parameters, including the Casimir energy.
- This breakthrough clarifies the structure of quantum information in complex systems, offering new insights into the distribution of entanglement throughout the system.
- These findings may enhance quantum simulations, aid in classifying new quantum states, and contribute to resolving deep mysteries in quantum gravity and black hole physics.
A team of theoretical physicists has discovered universal rules that describe quantum entanglement—the strange connection between particles—across any number of dimensions. Researchers from Kyushu University, the University of Tokyo, and the California Institute of Technology have pioneered a new method that could reshape our understanding of quantum information and gravity. Their work was published in the journal Physical Review Letters.
In the quantum world, particles can be intrinsically linked, or entangled, so that the state of one instantly influences the other, no matter how far apart they are. While this phenomenon is the foundation for quantum computing and communication, scientists have struggled to describe its behavior in systems with more than one spatial dimension. To overcome this, the team applied a framework called thermal effective theory, a tool from particle physics used to find simple, universal patterns within highly complex systems.
Using this approach, the researchers analyzed Rényi entropy, a crucial mathematical measure that quantifies the complexity of entanglement. They successfully derived a formula showing that in a wide range of scenarios, the behavior of this entropy follows a universal pattern in any number of dimensions. This pattern is governed by a small number of fundamental physical quantities, such as the system’s Casimir energy, which is a subtle form of energy arising from quantum fluctuations.
“This study is the first example of applying thermal effective theory to quantum information,” said lead author Yuya Kusuki, an associate professor at Kyushu University, in a press release from the Kavli Foundation. “The results of this study demonstrate the usefulness of this approach, and we hope to further develop this approach to gain a deeper understanding of quantum entanglement structures.” The findings not only advance theoretical physics but also promise to improve simulations of quantum systems and offer new insights into the quantum nature of gravity and black holes.
References
- Kusuki, Y., Ooguri, H., & Pal, S. (2025). Universality of rényi entropy in conformal field theory. Physical Review Letters, 135(6), 061603. https://doi.org/10.1103/fsg7-bs7q
- The Kavli Foundation. (2025, August 6). Researchers discover universal rules of quantum entanglement across all dimensions. Phys.Org; The Kavli Foundation. https://phys.org/news/2025-08-universal-quantum-entanglement-dimensions.html
