A hidden quantum feature of protons is showing strange behavior. Like a black hole?

Quantum entanglement, protons, and black holes walk into a bar

Inside protons, there are several fragments that need to be maximally entangled with one another — if this isn't the case, then theoretical predictions wouldn't match data from experiments, according to the study. The model described by the theory allows the scientists to propose that, contrary to consensus, the physics going on inside protons might have a lot in common with entropy or temperature.

And these processes are most pronounced when dealing with exotic objects, like black holes.

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Two theorists are behind this study: Krzysztof Kutak from the Institute of Nuclear Physics of the Polish Academy of Sciences (IFJ PAN), in Poland's Cracow, and Martin Hentschinski, of the Universidad de las Americas Puebla, in Mexico.

Together, the two evaluated a scenario where electrons are shot at protons. An incoming electron with a negative electric charge, upon nearing a positively charged proton, will interact — resulting in the latter deflecting the former into a new pathway.

Electromagnetic interaction is when a photon is exchanged between the proton and electron — the stronger the two particles interact, the larger the change in momentum of the photon, which, in turn, cuts the time of the electromagnetic wave.

Bringing entropy into proton physics signifies black holes

"If a photon is 'short' enough to [fit] inside a proton, it begins to 'resolve' details of its internal structure," said Kutak, in a report from SciTech Daily. "The result of interacting with this sort of photon can be the decay of the proton into particles. We have shown that there is entanglement between the two situations. If the observation by the photon of the interior part of the proton leads to its decay into a number of particles, let's say three, then the number of particles originating from the unobserved part of the proton is determined by the number of particles seen in the observed part of the proton."

There is much more to the procedure of the research, but the recent tendency among quantum physicists of linking entropy with the internal state of a proton — via a well-known concept of classical thermodynamics — has enabled scientists to measure the degree of disordered motion among particles in an analyzed system. This disordered state gives systems high entropy, with order corresponding to low entropy.

As above, so below - And recent findings show that this is how things are inside the proton, which means physicists can describe entanglement entropy in that context. But, there remain many physicists who are resolute in their conviction that the protons are themselves a pure quantum state, which would mean we can't describe them with entropy. And the new study takes a massive step in bringing the entanglement thesis into prominence, for the proton. This relates to a wide spectrum of concepts — most notably the surface area of a black hole. And this means the beginning of a new and exciting field, in dire need of further investigation.

Study Abstract