title: Distance dependence of entanglement generation via a bosonic heat bath.
abstract: Within a generalized Caldeira-Leggett model, we analyze the conditions under which a bosonic heat bath can entangle two microscopic quantum systems at a distance r. We find that the attainable entanglement is extremely distance-sensitive. Significant entanglement can only be achieved if the systems are within a microscopic distance that is of order of the cutoff wavelength lambda of the system-bath interaction. At larger distances, the maximal entanglement is exponentially suppressed with a decay length of order lambda. We conclude that entanglement generation via a heat bath is not suitable for entangling remote objects.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Theoretische Physik, Universität zu Köln, Zülpicher Str. 77, D-50937 Köln, Germany.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Zell
authors.forename: Friedemann
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Queisser
authors.forename: Rochus
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Klesse