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arXiv:1201.0733 · Physical Review B

Entanglement spectrum and Wannier center flow of the Hofstadter problem

Zhoushen Huang, Daniel P. Arovas

Published Dec 12, 2012• 53 citations
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Abstract

We examine the quantum entanglement spectra and Wannier functions of the square lattice Hofstadter model. Consistent with previous work on entanglement spectra of topological band structures, we find that the entanglement levels exhibit a spectral flow similar to that of the full system's energy spectrum. While the energy spectra are continuous, with cylindrical boundary conditions the entanglement spectra exhibit discontinuities associated with the passage of an energy edge state through the Fermi level. We show how the entanglement spectrum can be understood by examining the band projectors of the full system and their behavior under adiabatic pumping. In so doing we make connections with the original work by Thouless, Kohmoto, Nightingale, and den Nijs (TKNN) [Phys. Rev. Lett. 49, 405 (1982)] on topological two-dimensional band structures and their Chern numbers. Finally, we consider Wannier states and their adiabatic flows and draw connections to the entanglement properties.

DOI
10.1103/physrevb.86.245109

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We examine the quantum entanglement spectra and Wannier functions of the square lattice Hofstadter model. Consistent with previous work on entanglement spectra of topological band structures, we find that the entanglement levels exhibit a spectral flow similar to that of the full system's energy spectrum. While the energy spectra are continuous, with cylindrical boundary conditions the entanglement spectra exhibit discontinuities associated with the passage of an energy edge state through the Fermi level. We show how the entanglement spectrum can be understood by examining the band projectors of the full system and their behavior under adiabatic pumping. In so doing we make connections with the original work by Thouless, Kohmoto, Nightingale, and den Nijs (TKNN) [Phys. Rev. Lett. 49, 405 (1982)] on topological two-dimensional band structures and their Chern numbers. Finally, we consider Wannier states and their adiabatic flows and draw connections to the entanglement properties.
We investigate the entanglement spectra of topological insulators, which manifest edge states on a lattice with spatial boundaries. In the physical energy spectrum, a subset of the edge states that intersect the Fermi level translates to discontinuities in the trace of the single-particle entanglement spectrum, which we call a ``trace index.'' We find that any free-fermion topological insulator that exhibits spectral flow has a nonvanishing trace index, which provides us with a new description of topological invariants. In addition, we identify the signatures of spectral flow in the single-particle and many-body entanglement spectrum; in the process we present new methods to extract topological invariants and establish a connection between entanglement and quantum Hall physics.
We investigate the entanglement spectra of topological insulators, which manifest edge states on a lattice with spatial boundaries. In the physical energy spectrum, a subset of the edge states that intersect the Fermi level translates to discontinuities in the trace of the single-particle entanglement spectrum, which we call a ``trace index.'' We find that any free-fermion topological insulator that exhibits spectral flow has a nonvanishing trace index, which provides us with a new description of topological invariants. In addition, we identify the signatures of spectral flow in the single-particle and many-body entanglement spectrum; in the process we present new methods to extract topological invariants and establish a connection between entanglement and quantum Hall physics.
We study Haldane's honeycomb lattice model and a bilayer generalization thereof from the perspective of edge states, entanglement spectra, and Wannier function behavior. For the monolayer model, we obtain the zigzag edge states analytically, and identify the edge state crossing point kck_ckc​ with where the f=1/2f = 1/2f=1/2 entanglement occupancy and the half-odd-integer Wannier centers occur. A continuous interpolation between the entanglement states and the Wannier states is introduced. We then construct a bilayer model by Bernal stacking two monolayers coupled by interlayer hopping. We analyze a particular limit of this model where an extended symmetry, related to inversion, is present. The band topology then reveals a break-down of the correspondence between edge and entanglement spectrum, which is analyzed in detail, and compared with the inversion-symmetric Z2 topological insulators which show a similar phenomenon.
\n\nThe concept of entanglement spectrum, which was previously associated with gapped topological phases, is extended to the gapless Weyl semimetal phase. By dimensional reduction, we numerically investigate entanglement spectra of Weyl semimetal phases in two three-dimensional (3D) lattice models consisting of coupled layers of 2D quantum anomalous Hall insulators. It is found that for the gapless phase, there still exists a correspondence between the entanglement surface state and the physical surface state; and the “trace index”, defined as the discontinuity in the trace of the single-particle entanglement spectrum, remains equivalent to the Chern number of the 2D insulator layers.\n
Quantum entanglement plays a ubiquitous role in theoretical physics, from the characterization of novel phases of matter to understanding the efficacy of numerical algorithms. As such, there have been extensive studies on the entanglement spectrum (ES) of free-fermion systems, particularly in the relation between its spectral flow and topological charge pumping. However, far less has been studied about the spacing between adjacent entanglement eigenenergies, which affects the truncation error in numerical computations involving matrix product states or projected entangled pair states. In this paper, we shall hence derive asymptotic bounds for the ES spacings through an interpolation argument that utilizes known results on Wannier function decay. For translationally invariant systems, the entanglement energies are shown to decay at a rate monotonically related to the complex gap between the filled and occupied bands. This interpolation also demonstrates the one-to-one correspondence between the ES and the edge states. Our results also provide asymptotic bounds for the eigenvalue distribution of certain types of block Toeplitz matrices common in physics, even for those not arising from entanglement calculations.
We investigate topological phase transitions in Chern insulators within three-band models, focusing on the empty band and lowest band populated by spinless fermions. We consider Lieb and kagome lattices and notice phase transitions driven by the hopping integral between nearest-neighbors, which leads to the change of the lowest band Chern number from C=1C=1C=1 to C=−1C=-1C=−1. In the single-particle picture, different phases are examined by investigating corresponding entanglement spectra and the evolution of the entanglement entropy. Entanglement spectra reveal the spectral flow characteristic of topologically nontrivial systems before and after phase transitions. For the lowest band with 1/31/31/3 filling, Fractional Chern insulator (FCI) phases are identified by examining the ground state momenta, the spectral flow, and counting of the entanglement energy levels below the gap in the entanglement spectrum. A quasilinear dependence of the entanglement entropy α(nA)α(n_A)α(nA​) term is observed for FCI phase, similarly to linear behavior expected for Laughlin phase in the fractional quantum Hall effect. At the topological phase transition, for both empty and partially filled lowest bands, the energy gap closure and a discontinuity in the entanglement entropy are observed. This coincides with the divergence of a standard deviation of the Berry curvature. We notice also a phase transition driven by the nearest-neighbor interaction in the Lieb lattice, where the many-body energy gap closes. The phase transitions are shown to be stable for an arbitrary system size, thus predicted to be present in the thermodynamic limit. While our calculations are performed for an interaction energy far exceeding the gap between the two lowest energy bands, we note that the higher band does not affect the phase transitions, however destabilizes FCI phases.