Witnessing Spin-Orbital Entanglement Using Resonant Inelastic X-Ray Scattering

Shen, Zecheng; Ding, Shuhan; Zhao, Zijun; Evangelista, Francesco A.; Wang, Yao

doi:10.1103/nyxb-nqtq

Witnessing Spin-Orbital Entanglement Using Resonant Inelastic X-Ray Scattering

Journal Article · Fri Mar 20 00:00:00 EDT 2026 · Physical Review Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/nyxb-nqtq· OSTI ID:3024887

Shen, Zecheng ^[1]; Ding, Shuhan ^[1]; ^[1]; ^[1]; ^[1]

Emory Univ., Atlanta, GA (United States)

Entanglement plays a central role in quantum technologies, yet its characterization and control in materials remain challenging. Recent developments in spectrum-based entanglement witnesses have enabled new strategies for quantifying many-body entanglement in macroscopic materials. Here, in this work, we develop a protocol for detecting spin-orbital entanglement using experiment-accessible resonant inelastic x-ray scattering. Central to our approach is the construction of a Hermitian generator from measurable spectra, which allows us to compute the quantum Fisher information (QFI) available in spin-orbital systems. The resulting QFI provides upper bounds for 𝑘-producible states and thus serves as a robust witness of spin-orbital entanglement. To account for realistic experimental limitations, we further extend our framework to include relaxed QFI bounds applicable to measurements lacking full polarization resolution.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Emory Univ., Atlanta, GA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Scientific User Facilities (SUF)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC02-05CH11231; SC0024524; SC0024532

Other Award/Contract Number:: BES-ERCAP0031226
SA-QMI-2025-083a

OSTI ID:: 3024887

Journal Information:: Physical Review Letters, Journal Name: Physical Review Letters Journal Issue: 11 Vol. 136; ISSN 1079-7114; ISSN 0031-9007

Publisher:: American Physical Society (APS)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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