arXiv:0912.4733 · Journal of Physics A Mathematical and Theoretical
Exact results for the bipartite entanglement entropy of the AKLT spin-1 chain
Scott D Geraedts, Erik Schwartz Sørensen
Abstract
We study the bipartite entanglement between a subsystem of size l and the rest of the system of total size L as it occurs in a spin-1 Affleck–Kennedy–Lieb–Tasaki (AKLT) chain subject to open boundary conditions. In this case, the ground-state manifold is four-fold degenerate and there is strong dependence on the parity of the number of spins, L . We present exact analytical results for the von Neumann entanglement entropy, as a function of both the size of the subsystem, l , and the total system size, L , for all four degenerate ground states for both odd and even L . In the large l , L limits the entanglement entropy approaches ln (2) for the S z T = ±1 while it approaches twice that value, 2ln (2), for the S z T = 0 states. In all cases, it is found that this constant is approached exponentially fast defining a length scale ξ = 1/ln (3) equal to the known bulk correlation length.