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arXiv:1401.3504 · Journal of Statistical Mechanics Theory and Experiment

Corner contribution to the entanglement entropy of anO(3) quantum critical point in 2 + 1 dimensions

A B Kallin, E M Stoudenmire, Paul Fendley, R R P Singh, R G Melko

Published Jun 19, 2014• 96 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

The entanglement entropy for a quantum critical system across a boundary with a corner exhibits a subleading logarithmic scaling term with a scale-invariant coefficient. Using a Numerical Linked Cluster Expansion, we calculate this universal quantity for a square-lattice bilayer Heisenberg model at its quantum critical point. We find, for this 2 + 1 dimensional O (3) universality class, that it is thrice the value calculated previously for the Ising universality class. This relation gives substantial evidence that this coefficient provides a measure of the number of degrees of freedom of the theory, analogous to the central charge in a 1 + 1 dimensional conformal field theory.

DOI
10.1088/1742-5468/2014/06/p06009

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The entanglement entropy for a quantum critical system across a boundary with a corner exhibits a subleading logarithmic scaling term with a scale-invariant coefficient. Using a Numerical Linked Cluster Expansion, we calculate this universal quantity for a square-lattice bilayer Heisenberg model at its quantum critical point. We find, for this 2 + 1 dimensional O (3) universality class, that it is thrice the value calculated previously for the Ising universality class. This relation gives substantial evidence that this coefficient provides a measure of the number of degrees of freedom of the theory, analogous to the central charge in a 1 + 1 dimensional conformal field theory.
In a D=2+1D=2+1D=2+1 quantum critical system, the entanglement entropy across a boundary with a corner contains a subleading logarithmic scaling term with a universal coefficient. It has been conjectured that this coefficient is, to leading order, proportional to the number of field components NNN in the associated O(N)\text{O}(N)O(N) continuum ${\ensuremath{\phi}}^{4}$ field theory. Using density matrix renormalization group calculations combined with the powerful numerical linked cluster expansion technique, we confirm this scenario for the O(2)\text{O}(2)O(2) Wilson-Fisher fixed point in a striking way, through direct calculation at the quantum critical points of two very different microscopic models. The value of this corner coefficient is, to within our numerical precision, twice the coefficient of the Ising fixed point. Our results add to the growing body of evidence that this universal term in the R\'enyi entanglement entropy reflects the number of low-energy degrees of freedom in a system, even for strongly interacting theories.
We consider a bilayer quantum spin model with anisotropic intralayer exchange couplings. By varying the anisotropy, the quantum critical phenomena changes from XY to Heisenberg to Ising universality class, with two modes, three modes, and one mode, respectively, becoming gapless simultaneously. We use series-expansion methods to calculate the second and third Renyi entanglement entropies when the system is bipartitioned into two parts. Leading area-law terms and subleading entropies associated with corners are separately calculated. We find clear evidence that the logarithmic singularity associated with the corners is universal in each class. Its coefficient along the Ising critical line is in excellent agreement with those obtained previously for the transverse-field Ising model. Our results provide strong evidence for the idea that the universal terms in the entanglement entropy provide an approximate measure of the low energy degrees of freedom in the system.
Computing the subleading logarithmic term in the entanglement entropy (EE) of (2+1)d quantum many-body systems remains a significant challenge, despite its central role in revealing universal information about quantum states and quantum critical points (QCPs). Building on recent algorithmic advances that enable the stable calculation of EE as an exponential observable~\cite{zhouIncremental2024,zhangIntegral2024,liaoExtracting2024}, we develop a {\it bubble basis} projector quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) algorithm to precisely and efficiently compute the universal corner of EE at QCPs in a (2+1)d square-lattice transverse-field Ising model augmented with a four-body interaction. Turning on this interaction allows us to trace an Ising critical line, reaching the tricritical point, and then a line of first-order phase transition. In (2+1)d, the tricritical point is described by the Gaussian theory, where a theoretical calculation of the corner logarithmic term in the 2nd Rényi entropy term is available~\cite{UniversalCasini2007}. Our QMC results are in quantitative agreement with this theoretical value, providing a highly nontrivial benchmark of the algorithm. Furthermore, we also study the Rényi EE at the Ising critical line and on the first-order transition line, obtaining results consistent with theoretical expectations. These findings establish the long-sought connection between the universal values of an exactly solvable limit and those of a strongly correlated regime at (2+1)d.
The subleading corner logarithmic corrections in entanglement entropy (EE) are crucial for revealing the universal characteristics of quantum critical points (QCPs), but they are challenging to detect. Motivated by recent developments in the stable computation of EE in (2+12+12+1)-dimensional [(2+12+12+1)D] quantum many-body systems, we have developed a method for directly measuring the corner contribution in EE with lower computational cost. The cornerstone of our approach is to measure the subtracted corner entanglement entropy (SCEE), defined as the difference between the EEs of subregions with the same boundary length for smooth and cornered boundaries during a sign-problem-free quantum Monte Carlo simulation. Our improved method inherently eliminates not only the area-law term of EE but also the subleading log corrections arising from Goldstone modes, leaving the universal corner contribution as the leading term of the SCEE with greatly improved data quality. Utilizing this advanced approach, we calculate the SCEE of the bilayer Heisenberg model on both square and honeycomb lattices across their (2+12+12+1)D OOO(3) QCPs with different opening angles on the entanglement boundary and obtain accurate values of the corresponding universal corner log coefficients. These findings will encourage further theoretical investigations to access controlled universal information for interacting conformal field theories at (2+12+12+1) dimensions.
We examine the entanglement properties of the spin-half Heisenberg model on the two-dimensional square-lattice bilayer based on quantum Monte Carlo calculations of the second R\'enyi entanglement entropy. In particular, we extract the dominant area-law contribution to the bipartite entanglement entropy that shows a nonmonotonous behavior upon increasing the interlayer exchange interaction: a local maximum in the area-law coefficient is located at the quantum critical point separating the antiferromagnetically ordered region from the disordered dimer-singlet regime. Furthermore, we consider subleading logarithmic corrections to the R\'enyi entanglement entropy scaling. Employing different subregion shapes, we isolate the logarithmic corner term from the logarithmic contribution due to Goldstone modes that is found to be enhanced in the limit of decoupled layers. At the quantum critical point, we estimate a contribution of 0.016(1)0.016(1)0.016(1) due to each ${90}^{\ensuremath{\circ}}$ corner. This corner term at the SU(2) quantum critical point deviates from the Gaussian theory value, while it compares well with recent numerical linked cluster calculations on the bilayer model.
We study the contribution to the entanglement entropy of (2+1)-dimensional conformal field theories (CFTs) coming from a sharp corner in the entangling surface. This contribution is encoded in a function a(θ) of the corner opening angle, and was recently proposed as a measure of the degrees of freedom in the underlying CFT. We show that the ratio a(θ)/C(T), where C(T) is the central charge in the stress tensor correlator, is an almost universal quantity for a broad class of theories including various higher-curvature holographic models, free scalars, and fermions, and Wilson-Fisher fixed points of the O(N) models with N=1,2,3. Strikingly, the agreement between these different theories becomes exact in the limit θ→π, where the entangling surface approaches a smooth curve. We thus conjecture that the corresponding ratio is universal for general CFTs in three dimensions.