Fermi two-atom problem: Nonperturbative approach via relativistic quantum information and algebraic quantum field theory

Abstract

In this work we revisit the famous Fermi two-atom problem, which concerns how relativistic causality impacts atomic transition probabilities, using the tools from relativistic quantum information and algebraic quantum field theory. The problem has sparked different analyses from many directions and angles since the proposed solution by Buchholz and Yngvason [Phys. Rev. Lett. 73, 613 (1994)]. Some of these analyses employ various approximations, heuristics, and perturbative methods, which tends to render some of the otherwise useful insights somewhat obscured. It is also noted that they are all studied in flat spacetime. We show that current tools in relativistic quantum information, combined with an algebraic approach to quantum field theory, are now powerful enough to provide fuller and cleaner analysis of the Fermi two-atom problem for arbitrary curved spacetimes in a completely nonperturbative manner. Our result gives the original solution of Buchholz and Yngvason a very operational reinterpretation in terms of qubits interacting with a quantum field and allows for various natural generalizations and inclusion of detector-based local measurement for the quantum field [Phys. Rev. D 105, 065003 (2022)].