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arXiv:1102.5524 · Physical Review Letters

Entanglement Renormalization for Quantum Fields in Real Space

Jutho Haegeman, Tobias J. Osborne, Henri Verschelde, Frank Verstraete

Published Mar 5, 2013• 241 citations
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Abstract

We show how to construct renormalization group (RG) flows of quantum field theories in real space, as opposed to the usual Wilsonian approach in momentum space. This is achieved by generalizing the multiscale entanglement renormalization ansatz to continuum theories. The variational class of wave functions arising from this RG flow are translation invariant and exhibits an entropy-area law. We illustrate the construction for a free nonrelativistic boson model, and argue that the full power of the construction should emerge in the case of interacting theories.

DOI
10.1103/physrevlett.110.100402

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We show how to construct renormalization group (RG) flows of quantum field theories in real space, as opposed to the usual Wilsonian approach in momentum space. This is achieved by generalizing the multiscale entanglement renormalization ansatz to continuum theories. The variational class of wave functions arising from this RG flow are translation invariant and exhibits an entropy-area law. We illustrate the construction for a free nonrelativistic boson model, and argue that the full power of the construction should emerge in the case of interacting theories.
We adapt the techniques of entanglement renormalization tensor networks to weakly interacting quantum field theories in the continuum. A key tool is ``quantum circuit perturbation theory,'' which enables us to systematically construct unitaries that map between wave functionals which are Gaussian with arbitrary perturbative corrections. As an application, we construct a local continuous multiscale entanglement renormalization ansatz (cMERA) circuit that maps an unentangled scale-invariant state to the ground state of ${\ensuremath{\varphi}}^{4}$ theory to one loop. Our local cMERA circuit corresponds exactly to one-loop Wilsonian renormalization group (RG) flow on the spatial momentum modes. In other words, we establish that perturbative Wilsonian RG on spatial momentum modes can be equivalently recast as a local cMERA circuit in ${\ensuremath{\varphi}}^{4}$ theory and argue that this correspondence holds more generally. Our analysis also suggests useful numerical ans\"atze for cMERA in the nonperturbative regime.
We propose an adaptation of Entanglement Renormalization for quantum field theories that, through the use of discrete wavelet transforms, strongly parallels the tensor network architecture of the \emph{Multiscale Entanglement Renormalization Ansatz} (a.k.a. MERA). Our approach, called wMERA, has several advantages of over previous attempts to adapt MERA to continuum systems. In particular, (i) wMERA is formulated directly in position space, hence preserving the quasi-locality and sparsity of entanglers; and (ii) it enables a built-in RG flow in the implementation of real-time evolution and in computations of correlation functions, which is key for efficient numerical implementations. As examples, we describe in detail two concrete implementations of our wMERA algorithm for free scalar and fermionic theories in (1+1) spacetime dimensions. Possible avenues for constructing wMERAs for interacting field theories are also discussed.
A bstract We propose an adaptation of Entanglement Renormalization for quantum field theories that, through the use of discrete wavelet transforms, strongly parallels the tensor network architecture of the Multiscale Entanglement Renormalization Ansatz (a.k.a. MERA). Our approach, called wMERA, has several advantages of over previous attempts to adapt MERA to continuum systems. In particular, (i) wMERA is formulated directly in position space, hence preserving the quasi-locality and sparsity of entanglers; and (ii) it enables a built-in RG flow in the implementation of real-time evolution and in computations of correlation functions, which is key for efficient numerical implementations. As examples, we describe in detail two concrete implementations of our wMERA algorithm for free scalar and fermionic theories in (1+1) spacetime dimensions. Possible avenues for constructing wMERAs for interacting field theories are also discussed.
We explore entanglement entropy of a cap-like region for a generic quantum field theory residing in the Bunch-Davies vacuum on de Sitter space. Entanglement entropy in our setup is identical with the thermal entropy in the static patch of de Sitter, and we derive a simple relation between the vacuum expectation value of the energy-momentum tensor trace and the RG flow of entanglement entropy. In particular, renormalization of the bare couplings and logarithmic divergence of the entanglement entropy are interrelated in our setup. We confirm our findings by recovering known universal contributions for a free field theory deformed by a mass operator as well as obtain correct universal behaviour at the fixed points. Simple examples of entanglement entropy flows are elaborated in d=2,3,4. Inthreedimensionswefindthatwhiletherenormalizedentanglemententropy is stationary at the fixed points, it is not monotonic. We provide a computational evidence that the universal ‘area law’ for a conformally coupled scalar is different from the known result in the literature, and argue that this difference survives in the limit of flat space. Finally, we carry out the spectral decomposition of entanglement entropy flow and discuss its application to the F-theorem.
Entanglement renormalization is a real-space renormalization group (RG) transformation for quantum many-body systems. It generates the multiscale entanglement renormalization ansatz (MERA), a tensor network capable of efficiently describing a large class of many-body ground states, including those of systems at a quantum critical point or with topological order. The MERA has also been proposed to be a discrete realization of the holographic principle of string theory. Here we propose the use of symmetric tensors as a mechanism to build a symmetry-protected RG flow, and discuss two important applications of this construction. First, we argue that symmetry-protected entanglement renormalization produces the proper structure of RG fixed points, namely, a fixed-point for each symmetry-protected phase. Second, in the context of holography, we show that by using symmetric tensors, a global symmetry at the boundary becomes a local symmetry in the bulk, thus explicitly realizing in the MERA a characteristic feature of the AdS/CFT correspondence.
The ability of entanglement renormalization (ER) to generate a proper real-space renormalization group (RG) flow in extended quantum systems is analyzed in the setting of harmonic lattice systems in D =1 and 2 spatial dimensions. A conceptual overview of the steps involved in momentum-space RG is provided and contrasted against the equivalent steps in the real-space setting. The real-space RG flow, as generated by ER, is compared against the exact results from momentum-space RG, including an investigation of a critical fixed point and the effect of relevant and irrelevant perturbations.