Qun Wang

A bstract: We perform a first-principles, non-perturbative investigation of quantum entanglement between partonic constituents in a strongly coupled 3+1-dimensional scalar Yukawa theory, using light-front Hamiltonian methods with controlled Fock-space truncations. By explicitly constructing reduced density matrices for (mock) nucleon, pion, and anti-nucleon subsystems from light-front wave functions, we compute key entanglement witnesses, including von Neumann entropy, mutual information, and linear entropy, in both quenched (no sea pairs) and unquenched frameworks. We find that the entanglement entropy is closely related to the Shannon entropy of the transverse momentum dependent distribution, establishing a link between quantum information and parton structure. In contrast, the unquenched theory reveals genuinely non-classical correlations: the entanglement entropy cannot be reduced to any Shannon entropy of normalized parton distributions, demonstrating that the full hadronic wave function encodes quantum information beyond classical probabilities. Our findings highlight the role of entanglement as a fundamental probe of non-perturbative dynamics in relativistic quantum field theory and lay the groundwork for extending these concepts to QCD and future collider phenomenology.

We give a brief overview of spin entanglement and related quantum correlations in hyperon–antihyperon systems produced at high energies, with emphasis on channels accessible at [ ] colliders. Treating weak hyperon decays as generalized quantum spin measurements, we analyze the spin-density matrix, Bell inequalities, entanglement, steering and discord in [ ] and clarify the role of time-like electromagnetic form factors (EMFFs) in shaping these correlations.

We present an analytically solvable model based on the blast-wave picture of heavy-ion collisions with flow-momentum correspondence. It can describe the key features of spin polarizations in heavy-ion collisions. With the analytical solution, we can clearly show that the spin polarization with respect to the reaction plane is governed by the directed flow, while the spin polarization along the beam direction is governed by the ellipticity in flow and in transverse emission area. There is a symmetry between the contribution from the vorticity and from the shear stress tensor due to the flow-momentum correspondence. The solution can be improved systematically by perturbation method.

The global spin alignment of vector mesons has been observed by the STAR collaboration at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL). It provides a unique opportunity to probe the correlation between the polarized quark and antiquark in the strongly coupled quark-gluon plasma (sQGP) produced in relativistic heavy ion collisions, opening a new window to explore the properties of sQGP. In addition, spin alignments of vector mesons have also been observed in other high-energy particle collisions such as e ⁺ e ⁻ annihilations at high energies where hadron production is dominated by quark fragmentation mechanism. The results obtained are quite different from those obtained in heavy ion collisions where quark coalescence/combination mechanism dominates suggesting strong dependence on hadronization mechanisms. So comprehensive studies in different hadronization processes are needed. In this article, we present a brief review of theoretical and experimental advances in the study of vector meson’s spin alignments in a variety of high-energy particle collisions, with emphasis on hadronization mechanisms.