Quantum Discord and Entanglement in Radiative Capture Reactions

This paper presents a comprehensive investigation of quantum correlations in radiativecapture reactions through a unified lens of quantum information theory and nuclearphysics. By combining density matrix formulations with open quantum system dynamics, we can establish universal scaling laws governing the relationship betweenquantum discord (D), entanglement entropy (S), and fundamental nuclear properties. The analysis reveals the inverse power-law dependencies D ∝ Γ−0.83±0.04 and S ∝ Γ−1.12±0.06 between these quantum metrics and the decay width (Γ), maintainedacross fourteen nuclear systems spanning six decades in Γ and masses 2 ≤ A ≤ 56. Amachine learning architecture that integrates physical constraints with deep residualnetworks achieves 92% prediction accuracy for coherence lengths Lc while identifyingshell structure effects that enhance quantum correlations near magic numbers. Thepersistent quantum discord (D > 0.3) observed in systems with sub-attometer coherence lengths suggests nuclear spins maintain non-classical correlations through internaldegrees of freedom rather than spatial coherence. The developed phase diagram categorizes nuclear reactions into three quantum technology regimes: memory (Q > 1020s-1), sensing (1018 < Q < 1020 s-1), and foundational tests (Q < 1018 s-1), with56Fe(n; γ) and 6Li(n; γ) identified as optimal candidates for applications. These resultsbridge nuclear physics with quantum information science, providing both theoreticalinsights into decoherence mechanisms and practical tools for quantum material design.The proposed methodology establishes radiative capture reactions as a novel platformfor exploring emergent quantum phenomena in strongly interacting systems.