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arXiv:1405.1074 · Physical Review B

Universal behavior of the Shannon and Rényi mutual information of quantum critical chains

Francisco Castilho Alcaraz, M. A. Rajabpour

Published Aug 19, 2014• 43 citations
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Abstract

We study the Shannon and R\'enyi mutual information (MI) in the ground state (GS) of different critical quantum spin chains. Despite the apparent basis dependence of these quantities we show the existence of some particular basis (we will call them conformal basis) whose finite-size scaling function is related to the central charge $c$ of the underlying conformal field theory of the model. In particular, we verified that for large index $n$, the MI of a subsystem of size $\ensuremath{\ell}$ in a periodic chain with $L$ sites behaves as $\frac{c}{4}\frac{n}{n\ensuremath{-}1}ln[\frac{L}{\ensuremath{\pi}}sin(\frac{\ensuremath{\pi}\ensuremath{\ell}}{L})]$, when the ground-state wave function is expressed in these special conformal basis. This is in agreement with recent predictions. For generic local basis, we will show that, although in some cases ${b}_{n}ln[\frac{L}{\ensuremath{\pi}}sin(\frac{\ensuremath{\pi}\ensuremath{\ell}}{L})]$ is a good fit to our numerical data, in general, there is no direct relation between ${b}_{n}$ and the central charge of the system. We will support our findings with detailed numerical calculations for the transverse field Ising model, $Q=3,4$ quantum Potts chain, quantum Ashkin-Teller chain, and the XXZ quantum chain. We will also present some additional results of the Shannon mutual information ($n=1$), for the parafermionic ${Z}_{Q}$ quantum chains with $Q=5,6,7$, and 8.

DOI
10.1103/physrevb.90.075132

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We study the Shannon and R'enyi mutual information (MI) in the ground state (GS) of different critical quantum spin chains. Despite the apparent basis dependence of these quantities we show the existence of some particular basis (we will call them conformal basis) whose finite-size scaling function is related to the central charge ccc of the underlying conformal field theory of the model. In particular, we verified that for large index nnn, the MI of a subsystem of size \ensuremathℓ\ensuremath{\ell}\ensuremathℓ in a periodic chain with LLL sites behaves as c4nn\ensuremath−1ln[L\ensuremathπsin(\ensuremathπ\ensuremathℓL)]\frac{c}{4}\frac{n}{n\ensuremath{-}1}ln[\frac{L}{\ensuremath{\pi}}sin(\frac{\ensuremath{\pi}\ensuremath{\ell}}{L})]4c​n\ensuremath−1n​ln[\ensuremathπL​sin(L\ensuremathπ\ensuremathℓ​)], when the ground-state wave function is expressed in these special conformal basis. This is in agreement with recent predictions. For generic local basis, we will show that, although in some cases bnln[L\ensuremathπsin(\ensuremathπ\ensuremathℓL)]{b}_{n}ln[\frac{L}{\ensuremath{\pi}}sin(\frac{\ensuremath{\pi}\ensuremath{\ell}}{L})]bn​ln[\ensuremathπL​sin(L\ensuremathπ\ensuremathℓ​)] is a good fit to our numerical data, in general, there is no direct relation between bn{b}_{n}bn​ and the central charge of the system. We will support our findings with detailed numerical calculations for the transverse field Ising model, Q=3,4Q=3,4Q=3,4 quantum Potts chain, quantum Ashkin-Teller chain, and the XXZ quantum chain. We will also present some additional results of the Shannon mutual information (n=1n=1n=1), for the parafermionic ZQ{Z}_{Q}ZQ​ quantum chains with Q=5,6,7Q=5,6,7Q=5,6,7, and 8.
An existing conjecture states that the Shannon mutual information contained in the ground-state wave function of conformally invariant quantum chains, on periodic lattices, has a leading finite-size scaling behavior that, similarly as the von Neumann entanglement entropy, depends on the value of the central charge of the underlying conformal field theory describing the physical properties. This conjecture applies whenever the ground-state wave function is expressed in some special basis (conformal basis). Its formulation comes mainly from numerical evidences on exactly integrable quantum chains. In this paper, the above conjecture was tested for several general nonintegrable quantum chains. We introduce new families of self-dual Z(Q)Z(Q)Z(Q) symmetric quantum chains (Q=2,3,...)(Q=2,3,...)(Q=2,3,...). These quantum chains contain nearest-neighbor as well next-nearest-neighbor interactions (coupling constant p)p)p). In the cases Q=2Q=2Q=2 and Q=3Q=3Q=3, they are extensions of the standard quantum Ising and three-state Potts chains, respectively. For Q=4Q=4Q=4 and $Q\ensuremath{\ge}5$, they are extensions of the Ashkin-Teller and Z(Q)Z(Q)Z(Q) parafermionic quantum chains. Our studies indicate that these models are interesting on their own. They are critical, conformally invariant, and share the same universality class in a continuous critical line. Moreover, our numerical analysis for Q=2−−8Q=2--8Q=2−−8 indicate that the Shannon mutual information exhibits the conjectured behavior irrespective if the conformally invariant quantum chain is exactly integrable or not. For completeness we also calculated, for these new families of quantum chains, the two existing generalizations of the Shannon mutual information, which are based on the R\'enyi entropy and on the R\'enyi divergence.
We study the generalized mutual information ${\stackrel{\ifmmode \tilde{}\else \~{}\fi{}}{I}}_{n}$ of the ground state of different critical quantum chains. The generalized mutual information definition that we use is based on the well established concept of the R\'enyi divergence. We calculate this quantity numerically for several distinct quantum chains having either discrete Z(Q)Z(Q)Z(Q) symmetries (QQQ-state Potts model with Q=2,3,4Q=2,3,4Q=2,3,4 and Z(Q)Z(Q)Z(Q) parafermionic models with Q=5,6,7,8Q=5,6,7,8Q=5,6,7,8 and also Ashkin-Teller model with different anisotropies) or the U(1)U(1)U(1) continuous symmetries (Klein-Gordon field theory, XXZXXZXXZ and spin-1 Fateev-Zamolodchikov quantum chains with different anisotropies). For the spin chains these calculations were done by expressing the ground-state wave functions in two special bases. Our results indicate some general behavior for particular ranges of values of the parameter nnn that defines ${\stackrel{\ifmmode \tilde{}\else \~{}\fi{}}{I}}_{n}$. For a system, with total size LLL and subsystem sizes $\ensuremath{\ell}$ and $L\ensuremath{-}\ensuremath{\ell}$, the ${\stackrel{\ifmmode \tilde{}\else \~{}\fi{}}{I}}_{n}$ has a logarithmic leading behavior given by $\frac{{\stackrel{\ifmmode \tilde{}\else \~{}\fi{}}{c}}_{n}}{4}log[\frac{L}{\ensuremath{\pi}}sin(\frac{\ensuremath{\pi}\ensuremath{\ell}}{L})]$ where the coefficient ${\stackrel{\ifmmode \tilde{}\else \~{}\fi{}}{c}}_{n}$ is linearly dependent on the central charge ccc of the underlying conformal field theory describing the system's critical properties.
We consider the Shannon mutual information of subsystems of critical quantum chains in their ground states. Our results indicate a universal leading behavior for large subsystem sizes. Moreover, as happens with the entanglement entropy, its finite-size behavior yields the conformal anomaly c of the underlying conformal field theory governing the long-distance physics of the quantum chain. We study analytically a chain of coupled harmonic oscillators and numerically the Q-state Potts models (Q=2, 3, and 4), the XXZ quantum chain, and the spin-1 Fateev-Zamolodchikov model. The Shannon mutual information is a quantity easily computed, and our results indicate that for relatively small lattice sizes, its finite-size behavior already detects the universality class of quantum critical behavior.
We study the R\'enyi entanglement entropy and the Shannon mutual information for a class of spin-1/2 quantum critical XXZ chains with random coupling constants which are partially correlated. In the XX case, distinctly from the usual uncorrelated random case where the system is governed by an infinite-disorder fixed point, the correlated-disorder chain is governed by finite-disorder fixed points. Surprisingly, we verify that, although the system is not conformally invariant, the leading behavior of the R\'enyi entanglement entropies are similar to those of the clean (no randomness) conformally invariant system. In addition, we compute the Shannon mutual information among subsystems of our correlated-disorder quantum chain and verify the same leading behavior as the n=2n=2n=2 R\'enyi entanglement entropy. This result extends a recent conjecture concerning the same universal behavior of these quantities for conformally invariant quantum chains. For the generic spin-1/2 quantum critical XXZ case, the true asymptotic regime is identical to that in the uncorrelated disorder case. However, these finite-disorder fixed points govern the low-energy physics up to a very long crossover length scale, and the same results as in the XX case apply. Our results are based on exact numerical calculations and on a numerical strong-disorder renormalization group.
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.
The R\'enyi-Shannon entropy allows extraction of some universal information about many-body wave functions. For a critical spin chain with central charge c=1c=1c=1, we show that it exhibits a phase transition at some value nc{n}_{c}nc​ of the R\'enyi parameter nnn which depends on the Luttinger parameter RRR. A replica-free formulation establishes a connection to boundary entropies in conformal field theory and reveals that the transition is triggered by a vertex operator which becomes relevant at the boundary. Our numerical results (XXZ and ${J}_{1}\ensuremath{-}{J}_{2}$ spin chains) match the continuum limit prediction, confirming its universal character. The replica approach used in previous works turns out to be correct only for n<ncn<{n}_{c}n<nc​. From the point of view of two-dimensional Rokhsar-Kivelson states, this transition reveals a singularity in the entanglement spectra.