Entanglement and Pure Energy

Assuming you have 2 entangled protons or neutrons. As long as it is matter. If the first proton is hit by an anti proton and is turned into pure energy, will the other one also be turned into pure energy, or will it break the entanglement?
- Zach bonner (age 17)
Decatur, alabama

Energy is never "pure". I assume that what you mean by "pure energy" is actually a pair of photons, each with momentum, angular momentum, an ability to interact with charged particles, and so on.

Now for the entanglement question. How were the two (say) neutrons entangled? Say it's by momentum- e.g. that the two have opposite momenta, but with a range of individual momenta. After annihilation of one of the neutrons with the previously un-entangled anti-neutron, the total photon pair momentum is the momentum of the anti-neutron plus that of the annihilated neutron. Since the momentum of the anti-neutron itself had some range of possibilities, measuring the momentum of the pair doesn't tell you the momentum of the remaining neutron. It does give some information about it, however, if the momentum range of the anti-neutron was small. So the entanglement is reduced but not eliminated.

Mike W.

(published on 05/15/2017)