Study of entanglement via a multi-agent dynamical quantum game

PLoS One. 2023 Jan 27;18(1):e0280798. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0280798. eCollection 2023.

Abstract

At both conceptual and applied levels, quantum physics provides new opportunities as well as fundamental limitations. We hypothetically ask whether quantum games inspired by population dynamics can benefit from unique features of quantum mechanics such as entanglement and nonlocality. For doing so, we extend quantum game theory and demonstrate that in certain models inspired by ecological systems where several predators feed on the same prey, the strength of quantum entanglement between the various species has a profound effect on the asymptotic behavior of the system. For example, if there are sufficiently many predator species who are all equally correlated with their prey, they are all driven to extinction. Our results are derived in two ways: by analyzing the asymptotic dynamics of the system, and also by modeling the system as a quantum correlation network. The latter approach enables us to apply various tools from classical network theory in the above quantum scenarios. Several generalizations and applications are discussed.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Ecosystem*
  • Game Theory*
  • Population Dynamics
  • Predatory Behavior
  • Quantum Theory

Grants and funding

This work was supported by grant No. FQXi-RFP-CPW-2006 from the Foundational Questions Institute and Fetzer Franklin Fund, a donor advised fund of Silicon Valley Community Foundation. E.C. acknowledges support from the Israeli Innovation Authority under projects 70002 and 73795, from the Quantum Science and Technology Program of the Israeli Council of Higher Education and from the Pazy Foundation.