Multi-particle correlations, many particle systems, and entropy in effective field theories

Abstract

We discuss the treatment, in an effective field theory, of multi-particle correlations within a "large" system. We show that the act of coarse-graining necessarily introduces violations of unitarity in the evolution of states where the particle number is not defined. For an interacting system, such unitarity violations can cascade from the ultraviolet scale to the infrared in a "short" time. Hence, an effective field theory will be grossly inadequate for describing multi-particle correlations and related observables, even far away from the cut-off scale $\Lambda$. We furthermore argue that if the system is strongly coupled at $\Lambda$, than its final state {\em in the Effective Field Theory} (EFT) will appear as the highest entropy state if only low cumulants and correlations of the EFT degrees of freedom are measured. Heuristically, this can serve as an explanation of how "entropy" is created in a microscopically unitary evolution of a Quantum Field Theory (QFT). We conclude by discussing how these considerations might provide a clue to the apparent thermalization in a hadronic collision even in comparatively small systems, as well as the so-called black hole information paradox; We argue the "paradoxes" are likely to be artifacts of using an effective theory beyond its domain of validity.