The Maximal Entanglement Limit in Statistical and High Energy Physics

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Authors: Dmitri E. Kharzeev
Cited by: 0

Abstract

These lectures advocate the idea that quantum entanglement provides a unifying foundation for both statistical physics and high-energy interactions. I argue that, at sufficiently long times or high energies, most quantum systems approach a Maximal Entanglement Limit (MEL) in which phases of quantum states become unobservable, reduced density matrices acquire a thermal form, and probabilistic descriptions emerge without invoking ergodicity or classical randomness. Within this framework, the emergence of probabilistic parton model, thermalization in the break-up of confining strings and in high-energy collisions, and the universal small $x$ behavior of structure functions arise as direct consequences of entanglement and geometry of high-dimensional Hilbert space.

Fields of Study & Subjects

Quantum many-body systems Quantum Mechanics and Applications Quantum Information and Cryptography

Publication details

Journal / source
arXiv (Cornell University)
Publication date
1 January 2026
Document type
Preprint