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:1204.2819 · Physical Review Letters

Measuring Entanglement Entropy of a Generic Many-Body System with a Quantum Switch

Dmitry A. Abanin, Eugene Demler

Published Jul 12, 2012• 236 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Entanglement entropy has become an important theoretical concept in condensed matter physics because it provides a unique tool for characterizing quantum mechanical many-body phases and new kinds of quantum order. However, the experimental measurement of entanglement entropy in a many-body system is widely believed to be unfeasible, owing to the nonlocal character of this quantity. Here, we propose a general method to measure the entanglement entropy. The method is based on a quantum switch (a two-level system) coupled to a composite system consisting of several copies of the original many-body system. The state of the switch controls how different parts of the composite system connect to each other. We show that, by studying the dynamics of the quantum switch only, the Rényi entanglement entropy of the many-body system can be extracted. We propose a possible design of the quantum switch, which can be realized in cold atomic systems. Our work provides a route towards testing the scaling of entanglement in critical systems as well as a method for a direct experimental detection of topological order.

DOI
10.1103/physrevlett.109.020504

Related papers

Entanglement dynamics in quantum many-body systems

Wen Wei Ho, Dmitry A. Abanin

The dynamics of entanglement has recently been realized as a useful probe in studying ergodicity and its breakdown in quantum many-body systems. In this paper, we study theoretically the growth of entanglement in quantum many-body systems and propose a method to measure it experimentally. We show that entanglement growth is related to the spreading of local operators in real space. We present a simple toy model for ergodic systems in which linear spreading of operators results in a universal, linear-in-time growth of entanglement for initial product states, in contrast with the logarithmic growth of entanglement in many-body localized (MBL) systems. Furthermore, we show that entanglement growth is directly related to the decay of the Loschmidt echo in a composite system comprised of several copies of the original system, in which connections are controlled by a quantum switch (two-level system). By measuring only the switch's dynamics, the growth of the R\'enyi entropies can be extracted. Our work provides a way of understanding entanglement dynamics in many-body systems and to directly measure its growth in time via a single local measurement.

arXiv:1508.03784•Physical review. B./Physical review. B•Mar 1, 2017•103 citations

Computational Methods for the Measurement of Entanglement in Condensed Matter Systems

Ann B. Kallin

At the interface of quantum information and condensed matter physics, the study of entanglement in quantum many-body systems requires a new toolset which combines concepts from each. This thesis introduces a set of computational methods to study phases and phase transitions in lattice models of quantum systems, using the Renyi entropies as a means of quantifying entanglement. The scaling of entanglement entropy can give valuable insight into the phase of a condensed matter system. It can be used to detect exotic types of phases, to pinpoint transitions between phases, and can give us universal information about a system. \nThe first approach in this thesis is a technique to measure entanglement in finite size \nlattice systems using zero-temperature quantum Monte Carlo simulations. The algorithm \nis developed, implemented, and used to explore anomalous entanglement scaling terms in \nthe spin-1/2 Heisenberg antiferromagnet. \nIn the second part of this thesis, a new and complementary numerical technique is introduced to study entanglement not just in finite size systems, but as we approach the thermodynamic limit. This “numerical linked-cluster expansion” is used to study two different systems at their quantum critical points — continuous phase transitions occurring at zero temperature, at which these systems exhibit universal properties. Remarkably, these universal properties can be reflected in the scaling of entanglement. \nEntanglement offers a new perspective on condensed matter systems, one which takes us closer to genuinely understanding what goes on in these materials at the quantum mechanical level. This thesis demonstrates the first steps in developing an extensive list of computational tools that can be used to study entanglement over a wide range of interacting quantum many-body systems. With the ever increasing computational power available, it may be only a matter of time before these tools are used to create a comprehensive framework for the characterization of condensed matter phases and phase transitions.

•Jun 19, 2014•0 citations

Probing Rényi entanglement entropy via randomized measurements

Tiff Brydges, Andreas Elben, Petar Jurcevic +6 more

Entanglement is a key feature of many-body quantum systems. Measuring the entropy of different partitions of a quantum system provides a way to probe its entanglement structure. Here, we present and experimentally demonstrate a protocol for measuring the second-order Rényi entropy based on statistical correlations between randomized measurements. Our experiments, carried out with a trapped-ion quantum simulator with partition sizes of up to 10 qubits, prove the overall coherent character of the system dynamics and reveal the growth of entanglement between its parts, in both the absence and presence of disorder. Our protocol represents a universal tool for probing and characterizing engineered quantum systems in the laboratory, which is applicable to arbitrary quantum states of up to several tens of qubits.

arXiv:1806.05747•Science•Apr 19, 2019•648 citations

Measuring Rényi entanglement entropy with high efficiency and precision in quantum Monte Carlo simulations

Jiarui Zhao, Bin-Bin Chen, Yan-Cheng Wang +3 more

Abstract We develop a nonequilibrium increment method in quantum Monte Carlo simulations to obtain the Rényi entanglement entropy of various quantum many-body systems with high efficiency and precision. To demonstrate its power, we show the results on a few important yet difficult (2 + 1)dquantum lattice models, ranging from the Heisenberg quantum antiferromagnet with spontaneous symmetry breaking, the quantum critical point with O(3) conformal field theory (CFT) to the toric code $${{\mathbb{Z}}}_{2}$$ Z2 topological ordered state and the Kagome $${{\mathbb{Z}}}_{2}$$ Z2 quantum spin liquid model with frustration and multi-spin interactions. In all these cases, our method either reveals the precise CFT data from the logarithmic correction or extracts the quantum dimension in topological order, from the dominant area law in finite-size scaling, with very large system sizes, controlled errorbars, and minimal computational costs. Our method, therefore, establishes a controlled and practical computation paradigm to obtain the difficult yet important universal properties in highly entangled quantum matter.

arXiv:2112.15178•npj Quantum Materials•Jun 29, 2022•61 citations

Many-Body Entanglement: a New Application of the Full Counting Statistics

Israel Klich, Leonid S Levitov, Vladimir Lebedev +1 more

Entanglement entropy is a measure of quantum correlations between separate parts of a many‐body system, which plays an important role in many areas of physics. Here we review recent work in which a relation between this quantity and the Full Counting Statistics description of electron transport was established for noninteracting fermion systems. Using this relation, which is of a completely general character, we discuss how the entanglement entropy can be directly measured by detecting current fluctuations in a driven quantum system such as quantum point contact.

arXiv:0901.3391•AIP conference proceedings•Jan 1, 2009•26 citations

Particle entanglement in continuum many-body systems via quantum Monte Carlo

C. M. Herdman, Pierre–Nicholas Roy, Roger G. Melko +1 more

Entanglement of spatial bipartitions, used to explore lattice models in condensed matter physics, may be insufficient to fully describe itinerant quantum many-body systems in the continuum. We introduce a procedure to measure the R\'enyi entanglement entropies on a particle bipartition, with general applicability to continuum Hamiltonians via path integral Monte Carlo methods. Via direct simulations of interacting bosons in one spatial dimension, we confirm a logarithmic scaling of the single-particle entanglement entropy with the number of particles in the system. The coefficient of this logarithmic scaling increases with interaction strength, saturating to unity in the strongly interacting limit. Additionally, we show that the single-particle entanglement entropy is bounded by the condensate fraction, suggesting a practical route towards its measurement in future experiments.

arXiv:1310.8332•Physical Review B•Apr 4, 2014•34 citations
Entanglement entropy has become an important theoretical concept in condensed matter physics because it provides a unique tool for characterizing quantum mechanical many-body phases and new kinds of quantum order. However, the experimental measurement of entanglement entropy in a many-body system is widely believed to be unfeasible, owing to the nonlocal character of this quantity. Here, we propose a general method to measure the entanglement entropy. The method is based on a quantum switch (a two-level system) coupled to a composite system consisting of several copies of the original many-body system. The state of the switch controls how different parts of the composite system connect to each other. We show that, by studying the dynamics of the quantum switch only, the Rényi entanglement entropy of the many-body system can be extracted. We propose a possible design of the quantum switch, which can be realized in cold atomic systems. Our work provides a route towards testing the scaling of entanglement in critical systems as well as a method for a direct experimental detection of topological order.
The dynamics of entanglement has recently been realized as a useful probe in studying ergodicity and its breakdown in quantum many-body systems. In this paper, we study theoretically the growth of entanglement in quantum many-body systems and propose a method to measure it experimentally. We show that entanglement growth is related to the spreading of local operators in real space. We present a simple toy model for ergodic systems in which linear spreading of operators results in a universal, linear-in-time growth of entanglement for initial product states, in contrast with the logarithmic growth of entanglement in many-body localized (MBL) systems. Furthermore, we show that entanglement growth is directly related to the decay of the Loschmidt echo in a composite system comprised of several copies of the original system, in which connections are controlled by a quantum switch (two-level system). By measuring only the switch's dynamics, the growth of the R\'enyi entropies can be extracted. Our work provides a way of understanding entanglement dynamics in many-body systems and to directly measure its growth in time via a single local measurement.
At the interface of quantum information and condensed matter physics, the study of entanglement in quantum many-body systems requires a new toolset which combines concepts from each. This thesis introduces a set of computational methods to study phases and phase transitions in lattice models of quantum systems, using the Renyi entropies as a means of quantifying entanglement. The scaling of entanglement entropy can give valuable insight into the phase of a condensed matter system. It can be used to detect exotic types of phases, to pinpoint transitions between phases, and can give us universal information about a system. \nThe first approach in this thesis is a technique to measure entanglement in finite size \nlattice systems using zero-temperature quantum Monte Carlo simulations. The algorithm \nis developed, implemented, and used to explore anomalous entanglement scaling terms in \nthe spin-1/2 Heisenberg antiferromagnet. \nIn the second part of this thesis, a new and complementary numerical technique is introduced to study entanglement not just in finite size systems, but as we approach the thermodynamic limit. This “numerical linked-cluster expansion” is used to study two different systems at their quantum critical points — continuous phase transitions occurring at zero temperature, at which these systems exhibit universal properties. Remarkably, these universal properties can be reflected in the scaling of entanglement. \nEntanglement offers a new perspective on condensed matter systems, one which takes us closer to genuinely understanding what goes on in these materials at the quantum mechanical level. This thesis demonstrates the first steps in developing an extensive list of computational tools that can be used to study entanglement over a wide range of interacting quantum many-body systems. With the ever increasing computational power available, it may be only a matter of time before these tools are used to create a comprehensive framework for the characterization of condensed matter phases and phase transitions.
Entanglement is a key feature of many-body quantum systems. Measuring the entropy of different partitions of a quantum system provides a way to probe its entanglement structure. Here, we present and experimentally demonstrate a protocol for measuring the second-order Rényi entropy based on statistical correlations between randomized measurements. Our experiments, carried out with a trapped-ion quantum simulator with partition sizes of up to 10 qubits, prove the overall coherent character of the system dynamics and reveal the growth of entanglement between its parts, in both the absence and presence of disorder. Our protocol represents a universal tool for probing and characterizing engineered quantum systems in the laboratory, which is applicable to arbitrary quantum states of up to several tens of qubits.
Abstract We develop a nonequilibrium increment method in quantum Monte Carlo simulations to obtain the Rényi entanglement entropy of various quantum many-body systems with high efficiency and precision. To demonstrate its power, we show the results on a few important yet difficult (2 + 1)dquantum lattice models, ranging from the Heisenberg quantum antiferromagnet with spontaneous symmetry breaking, the quantum critical point with O(3) conformal field theory (CFT) to the toric code Z2{{\mathbb{Z}}}_{2}Z2​ Z2 topological ordered state and the Kagome Z2{{\mathbb{Z}}}_{2}Z2​ Z2 quantum spin liquid model with frustration and multi-spin interactions. In all these cases, our method either reveals the precise CFT data from the logarithmic correction or extracts the quantum dimension in topological order, from the dominant area law in finite-size scaling, with very large system sizes, controlled errorbars, and minimal computational costs. Our method, therefore, establishes a controlled and practical computation paradigm to obtain the difficult yet important universal properties in highly entangled quantum matter.
Entanglement entropy is a measure of quantum correlations between separate parts of a many‐body system, which plays an important role in many areas of physics. Here we review recent work in which a relation between this quantity and the Full Counting Statistics description of electron transport was established for noninteracting fermion systems. Using this relation, which is of a completely general character, we discuss how the entanglement entropy can be directly measured by detecting current fluctuations in a driven quantum system such as quantum point contact.
Entanglement of spatial bipartitions, used to explore lattice models in condensed matter physics, may be insufficient to fully describe itinerant quantum many-body systems in the continuum. We introduce a procedure to measure the R\'enyi entanglement entropies on a particle bipartition, with general applicability to continuum Hamiltonians via path integral Monte Carlo methods. Via direct simulations of interacting bosons in one spatial dimension, we confirm a logarithmic scaling of the single-particle entanglement entropy with the number of particles in the system. The coefficient of this logarithmic scaling increases with interaction strength, saturating to unity in the strongly interacting limit. Additionally, we show that the single-particle entanglement entropy is bounded by the condensate fraction, suggesting a practical route towards its measurement in future experiments.