Islands and mixed states in closed universes

We investigate the appearance of islands when a closed universe with gravity is entangled with a non-gravitating quantum system. We use braneworlds in three-dimensional multiboundary wormhole geometries as a model to explore what happens when the non-gravitating system has several components. The braneworld can be either completely contained in the entanglement wedge of one of the non-gravitating systems or split between them. In the former case, entanglement with the other system leads to a mixed state in the closed universe, unlike in simpler setups with a single quantum system, where the closed universe was necessarily in a pure state. We show that the entropy of this mixed state is bounded by half of the coarse-grained entropy of the effective theory on the braneworld.

Automated summary

This study investigates the appearance of islands when a closed universe with gravity is entangled with a non-gravitating quantum system. The findings suggest that when the non-gravitating system has several components, the closed universe may be in a mixed state, unlike in simpler setups with a single quantum system where the closed universe was necessarily in a pure state. This mixed state's entropy is shown to be bounded by half of the coarse-grained entropy of the effective theory on the braneworld.