Spin gases:: Quantum entanglement driven by classical kinematics -: art. no. 180502

A spin gas is a natural extension of a classical gas. It consists of a large number of particles whose (random) motion is described classically, but, in addition, have internal (quantum mechanical) degrees of freedom that interact during collisions. For specific types of quantum interactions we determine the entanglement that occurs naturally in such systems. We analyze how the evolution of the quantum state is determined by the underlying classical kinematics of the gas. For the Boltzmann gas, we calculate the rate at which entanglement is produced and characterize the entanglement properties of the equilibrium state.