A simple truth hidden in plain sight: All molecules are entangled according to chemical common sense - Jing Kong

In this talk, I show that a simple but nontrivial equation exists for molecules and how the equation changes the perception of a molecule in light of quantum entanglement. Physical objects have been shown to entangle quantum-mechanically over visible distances, which challenges the classic view that separated objects are independent of each other. I argue that chemical common sense actually supports the entanglement view. Specifically, chemical common sense can be summarized as a simple, nontrivial equation showing that all molecules are entangled in the number of electrons. Wavefunction interpretation of this equation of nature shows that all molecules in the physical world are always entangled, albeit not always locally real. Furthermore, it leads to the possibility of the number of electrons of a molecule being fractional. The continuity of the number of electrons allows the definition of the chemical potential for the electrons in a single molecule, which has nothing to do with temperature. The quantum entanglement can be viewed as saying that all molecules share the same chemical potential. An equation equivalent to the new question can be formulated with a state function using the chemical potential as a variable that exhibits an asymptotic additivity. Discussions are mostly conceptual.