Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

arXiv:1101.2881 · Physical Review Letters

Entanglement of Low-Energy Excitations in Conformal Field Theory

Francisco Castilho Alcaraz, Miguel Ibáñez-Berganza, Germán Sierra

Published May 17, 2011• 196 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

In a quantum critical chain, the scaling regime of the energy and momentum of the ground state and low-lying excitations are described by conformal field theory (CFT). The same holds true for the von Neumann and Rényi entropies of the ground state, which display a universal logarithmic behavior depending on the central charge. In this Letter we generalize this result to those excited states of the chain that correspond to primary fields in CFT. It is shown that the nth Rényi entropy is related to a 2n-point correlator of primary fields. We verify this statement for the critical XX and XXZ chains. This result uncovers a new link between quantum information theory and CFT.

DOI
10.1103/physrevlett.106.201601

Related papers

Entanglement of excited states in critical spin chains

Miguel Ibáñez-Berganza, Francisco Castilho Alcaraz, Germán Sierra

Rényi and von Neumann entropies quantifying the amount of entanglement in ground states of critical spin chains are known to satisfy a universal law which is given by the conformal field theory (CFT) describing their scaling regime. This law can be generalized to excitations described by primary fields in CFT, as was done by Alcaraz et al in 2011 (see reference [1], of which this work is a completion). An alternative derivation is presented, together with numerical verifications of our results in different models belonging to the c = 1, 1/2 universality classes. Oscillations of the Rényi entropy in excited states are also discussed.

arXiv:1109.5673•Journal of Statistical Mechanics Theory and Experiment•Jan 25, 2012•103 citations

Numerical calculations on the relative entanglement entropy in critical spin chains

Yuya O Nakagawa, Tomonori Ugajin

Abstract We study the relative entanglement entropy (EE) among various primary excited states in two critical spin chains: the S = 1 / 2 XXZ chain and the transverse field Ising chain at criticality. For the S = 1 / 2 XXZ chain, which corresponds to c = 1 free boson conformal field theory (CFT), we numerically calculate the relative EE by exact diagonalization and find a perfect agreement with the predictions by the CFT. For the transverse field Ising chain at criticality, which corresponds to the c = 1 / 2 Ising CFT, we analytically relate its relative EE to that of the S = 1 / 2 XXZ chain and confirm the relation numerically. We also calculate the ‘sandwiched’ Rényi relative EE and again the numerical results agree well with the analytical predictions. Our results are the first direct confirmation of the CFT predictions on the relative EE of the primary excited states in critical spin chains.

arXiv:1705.07899•Journal of Statistical Mechanics Theory and Experiment•Sep 1, 2017•11 citations

Entanglement entropies in conformal systems with boundaries

Luca Taddia, J. C. Xavier, Francisco Castilho Alcaraz +1 more

We study the entanglement entropies in one-dimensional open critical systems, whose effective description is given by a conformal field theory with boundaries. We show that, for pure-state systems formed by the ground state or by the excited states associated to primary fields, the entanglement entropies have a finite-size behavior that depends on the correlation of the underlying field theory. The analytical results are checked numerically, finding excellent agreement for the quantum chains ruled by the theories with central charge $c=1/2$ and 1.

arXiv:1302.6222•Physical Review B•Aug 5, 2013•59 citations

Entanglement of local operators in large-N conformal field theories

Paweł Caputa, M. Nozaki, T. Takayanagi

In this paper, we study Renyi and von Neumann entanglement entropy of excited states created by local operators in large-|$N$| (or large-central-charge) conformal field theories (CFTs). First we point out that a naive large-|$N$| expansion can break down for the von Neumann entanglement entropy, while it does not for the Renyi entanglement entropy. This happens even for the excited states in free Yang–Mills theories. Next, we analyze strongly coupled large-|$N$| CFTs from both the field-theoretic and holographic viewpoints. We find that the Renyi entanglement entropy of the excited state, produced by a local operator, grows logarithmically under its time evolution and its coefficient is proportional to the conformal dimension of the local operator.

arXiv:1405.5946•Progress of Theoretical and Experimental Physics•Sep 22, 2014•122 citations

Entanglement entropy of non-unitary conformal field theory

D Bianchini, Olalla A. Castro-Alvaredo, B Doyon +2 more

Here we show that the Rényi entanglement entropy of a region of large size ℓ in a one-dimensional critical model whose ground state breaks conformal invariance (such as in those described by non-unitary conformal field theories), behaves as , where is the effective central charge, c (which may be negative) is the central charge of the conformal field theory and is the lowest holomorphic conformal dimension in the theory. We also obtain results for models with boundaries, and with a large but finite correlation length, and we show that if the lowest conformal eigenspace is logarithmic ( with N nilpotent), then there is an additional term proportional to . These results generalize the well known expressions for unitary models. We provide a general proof, and report on numerical evidence for a non-unitary spin chain and an analytical computation using the corner transfer matrix method for a non-unitary lattice model. We use a new algebraic technique for studying the branching that arises within the replica approach, and find a new expression for the entanglement entropy in terms of correlation functions of twist fields for non-unitary models.

arXiv:1405.2804•Journal of Physics A Mathematical and Theoretical•Dec 24, 2014•113 citations

Renyi entropy for local quenches in 2D CFT from numerical conformal blocks

Yuya Kusuki, Tadashi Takayanagi

We study the time evolution of Renyi entanglement entropy for locally excited states in two dimensional large central charge CFTs. It generically shows a logarithmical growth and we compute the coefficient of log t term. Our analysis covers the entire parameter regions with respect to the replica number n and the conformal dimension h O of the primary operator which creates the excitation. We numerically analyse relevant vacuum conformal blocks by using Zamolodchikov’s recursion relation. We find that the behavior of the conformal blocks in two dimensional CFTs with a central charge c, drastically changes when the dimensions of external primary states reach the value c/32. In particular, when h O ≥ c/32 and n ≥ 2, we find a new universal formula $$ \varDelta {S}_A^{(n)}\simeq \frac{nc}{24\left(n-1\right)} $$ log t. Our numerical results also confirm existing analytical results using the HHLL approximation.

arXiv:1711.09913•Journal of High Energy Physics•Jan 1, 2018•41 citations
In a quantum critical chain, the scaling regime of the energy and momentum of the ground state and low-lying excitations are described by conformal field theory (CFT). The same holds true for the von Neumann and Rényi entropies of the ground state, which display a universal logarithmic behavior depending on the central charge. In this Letter we generalize this result to those excited states of the chain that correspond to primary fields in CFT. It is shown that the nth Rényi entropy is related to a 2n-point correlator of primary fields. We verify this statement for the critical XX and XXZ chains. This result uncovers a new link between quantum information theory and CFT.
Rényi and von Neumann entropies quantifying the amount of entanglement in ground states of critical spin chains are known to satisfy a universal law which is given by the conformal field theory (CFT) describing their scaling regime. This law can be generalized to excitations described by primary fields in CFT, as was done by Alcaraz et al in 2011 (see reference [1], of which this work is a completion). An alternative derivation is presented, together with numerical verifications of our results in different models belonging to the c = 1, 1/2 universality classes. Oscillations of the Rényi entropy in excited states are also discussed.
Abstract We study the relative entanglement entropy (EE) among various primary excited states in two critical spin chains: the S = 1 / 2 XXZ chain and the transverse field Ising chain at criticality. For the S = 1 / 2 XXZ chain, which corresponds to c = 1 free boson conformal field theory (CFT), we numerically calculate the relative EE by exact diagonalization and find a perfect agreement with the predictions by the CFT. For the transverse field Ising chain at criticality, which corresponds to the c = 1 / 2 Ising CFT, we analytically relate its relative EE to that of the S = 1 / 2 XXZ chain and confirm the relation numerically. We also calculate the ‘sandwiched’ Rényi relative EE and again the numerical results agree well with the analytical predictions. Our results are the first direct confirmation of the CFT predictions on the relative EE of the primary excited states in critical spin chains.
We study the entanglement entropies in one-dimensional open critical systems, whose effective description is given by a conformal field theory with boundaries. We show that, for pure-state systems formed by the ground state or by the excited states associated to primary fields, the entanglement entropies have a finite-size behavior that depends on the correlation of the underlying field theory. The analytical results are checked numerically, finding excellent agreement for the quantum chains ruled by the theories with central charge c=1/2c=1/2c=1/2 and 1.
In this paper, we study Renyi and von Neumann entanglement entropy of excited states created by local operators in large-|NNN| (or large-central-charge) conformal field theories (CFTs). First we point out that a naive large-|NNN| expansion can break down for the von Neumann entanglement entropy, while it does not for the Renyi entanglement entropy. This happens even for the excited states in free Yang–Mills theories. Next, we analyze strongly coupled large-|NNN| CFTs from both the field-theoretic and holographic viewpoints. We find that the Renyi entanglement entropy of the excited state, produced by a local operator, grows logarithmically under its time evolution and its coefficient is proportional to the conformal dimension of the local operator.
Here we show that the Rényi entanglement entropy of a region of large size ℓ in a one-dimensional critical model whose ground state breaks conformal invariance (such as in those described by non-unitary conformal field theories), behaves as , where is the effective central charge, c (which may be negative) is the central charge of the conformal field theory and is the lowest holomorphic conformal dimension in the theory. We also obtain results for models with boundaries, and with a large but finite correlation length, and we show that if the lowest conformal eigenspace is logarithmic ( with N nilpotent), then there is an additional term proportional to . These results generalize the well known expressions for unitary models. We provide a general proof, and report on numerical evidence for a non-unitary spin chain and an analytical computation using the corner transfer matrix method for a non-unitary lattice model. We use a new algebraic technique for studying the branching that arises within the replica approach, and find a new expression for the entanglement entropy in terms of correlation functions of twist fields for non-unitary models.
We study the time evolution of Renyi entanglement entropy for locally excited states in two dimensional large central charge CFTs. It generically shows a logarithmical growth and we compute the coefficient of log t term. Our analysis covers the entire parameter regions with respect to the replica number n and the conformal dimension h O of the primary operator which creates the excitation. We numerically analyse relevant vacuum conformal blocks by using Zamolodchikov’s recursion relation. We find that the behavior of the conformal blocks in two dimensional CFTs with a central charge c, drastically changes when the dimensions of external primary states reach the value c/32. In particular, when h O ≥ c/32 and n ≥ 2, we find a new universal formula ΔSA(n)≃nc24(n−1) \varDelta {S}_A^{(n)}\simeq \frac{nc}{24\left(n-1\right)} ΔSA(n)​≃24(n−1)nc​ log t. Our numerical results also confirm existing analytical results using the HHLL approximation.