Quantum entanglement due to a modulated dynamical Casimir effect

We study the creation and entanglement of quasiparticle pairs due to a periodic variation of the mode frequencies of a homogeneous quantum system. Depending on the values of the parameters describing the periodic modulation, the number of created pairs either oscillates or, in a narrow resonant frequency interval, grows exponentially in time. For a system initially in a thermal state, we determine in which cases the final state is quantum mechanically entangled, i.e., where the bipartite state is nonseparable. We include some weak dissipation, expected to be found in any experimental setup, and study the corresponding reduction of the quantum entanglement. Our findings are used to interpret the results of two recent experiments.