(Dec 31) Witnessing Entanglement via Mutually Unbiased Bases and its Potential to Detect Cancer in Humans

The electron-positron annihilation into two photons is a standard technology in medicine to observe e.g. metabolic processes in human bodies. A new tomograph, the J-PET, will provide the possibility to observe not only direct positron-electron annihilations but also the 2-photon and 3-photons decay of positronium atoms. Moreover, the polarisation properties of these photons may become feasible over Compton scattering processes. This talk discusses the theoretically predicted entanglement of the two- and the three-photon states and outlines how it can be detected via mutually unbiased bases or symmetric informationally complete POVMs [1,2]. Once this bipartite or/and multipartite entanglement can be experimentally observed novel biological indicators, e.g. relating cancer detection and entanglement in the positronium decay, may become a standard technology for doctors.  We will also report on pilot studies to detect cancer in humans [3].

[1] B.C. Hiesmayr and P. Moskal , Witnessing Entanglement In Compton Scattering Processes Via Mutually Unbiased Bases, arXiv:1807.04934
[2] B.C. Hiesmayr and P. Moskal , Genuine Multipartite Entanglement in the 3-Photon Decay of Positronium, Scientific Reports 7: 15349 (2017).
[3] B. Jasińska et al., Human Tissues Investigation Using PALS Technique, Acta Phys. Polon. B 48, no. 10, 1737 (2017).