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Quantum Circuit Cosmology: The Expansion of the Universe Since the First Qubit

Bao, Ning and Cao, ChunJun and Carroll, Sean M. and McAllister, Liam (2017) Quantum Circuit Cosmology: The Expansion of the Universe Since the First Qubit. . (Submitted) https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20170228-191741490

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Abstract

We consider cosmological evolution from the perspective of quantum information. We present a quantum circuit model for the expansion of a comoving region of space, in which initially-unentangled ancilla qubits become entangled as expansion proceeds. We apply this model to the comoving region that now coincides with our Hubble volume, taking the number of entangled degrees of freedom in this region to be proportional to the de Sitter entropy. The quantum circuit model is applicable for at most 140 e-folds of inflationary and post-inflationary expansion: we argue that no geometric description was possible before the time t_1 when our comoving region was one Planck length across, and contained one pair of entangled degrees of freedom. This approach could provide a framework for modeling the initial state of inflationary perturbations.


Item Type:Report or Paper (Discussion Paper)
Related URLs:
URLURL TypeDescription
http://arxiv.org/abs/1702.06959arXivDiscussion Paper
ORCID:
AuthorORCID
Bao, Ning0000-0002-3296-1039
Cao, ChunJun0000-0002-5761-5474
Carroll, Sean M.0000-0002-4226-5758
Additional Information:N. B. would like to acknowledge Sabrina Pasterski and Stephen Jordan for comments on the draft. L. M. is indebted to Tom Hartman for extensive explanations, and to Thomas Bachlechner, Sandipan Kundu, and John Stout for helpful discussions and comments on a draft. L. M. thanks the Caltech theory group for their hospitality during the initial stages of this work. C. C. and S. C. would like to thank Aidan Chatwin-Davies for detailed comments and discussions on the draft. This research is funded in part by the Walter Burke Institute for Theoretical Physics at Caltech, by DOE grant DE-SC0011632, by the Foundational Questions Institute, by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation through Grant 776 to the Caltech Moore Center for Theoretical Cosmology and Physics, and by NSF grant PHY-131622.
Group:Walter Burke Institute for Theoretical Physics, Moore Center for Theoretical Cosmology and Physics
Funders:
Funding AgencyGrant Number
Department of Energy (DOE)DE-SC0011632
Foundational Questions InstituteUNSPECIFIED
Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation776
NSFPHY-1316222
Walter Burke Institute for Theoretical Physics, CaltechUNSPECIFIED
Other Numbering System:
Other Numbering System NameOther Numbering System ID
CALT-TH2017-006
Record Number:CaltechAUTHORS:20170228-191741490
Persistent URL:https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20170228-191741490
Usage Policy:No commercial reproduction, distribution, display or performance rights in this work are provided.
ID Code:74622
Collection:CaltechAUTHORS
Deposited By: Joy Painter
Deposited On:01 Mar 2017 03:58
Last Modified:09 Mar 2020 13:18

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