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arXiv:1501.04389 · Journal of High Energy Physics

Revisiting entanglement entropy of lattice gauge theories

Ling-Yan Hung, Yidun Wan

Published Apr 1, 2015• 38 citations
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Abstract

It is realized recently that the entanglement entropy in gauge theories is ambiguous because the Hilbert space cannot be expressed as a simple direct product of Hilbert spaces defined on the two regions; different ways of dividing the Hilbert spaces near the boundary leads to significantly different result, to the extreme that it could annihilate the otherwise finite topological entanglement entropy between two regions altogether. In this article, we first show that the topological entanglement entropy in the Kitaev model [1] which is not a true gauge theory, is free of ambiguity. Then, we give a physical interpretation, from the perspectives of what can be measured in an experiment, to the purported ambiguity of true gauge theories, where the topological entanglement arises as redundancy in counting the degrees of freedom along the boundary separating two regions. We generalize these discussions to non-Abelian gauge theories.

DOI
10.1007/jhep04(2015)122

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It is realized recently that the entanglement entropy in gauge theories is ambiguous because the Hilbert space cannot be expressed as a simple direct product of Hilbert spaces defined on the two regions; different ways of dividing the Hilbert spaces near the boundary leads to significantly different result, to the extreme that it could annihilate the otherwise finite topological entanglement entropy between two regions altogether. In this article, we first show that the topological entanglement entropy in the Kitaev model [1] which is not a true gauge theory, is free of ambiguity. Then, we give a physical interpretation, from the perspectives of what can be measured in an experiment, to the purported ambiguity of true gauge theories, where the topological entanglement arises as redundancy in counting the degrees of freedom along the boundary separating two regions. We generalize these discussions to non-Abelian gauge theories.
We report on the recent progress in theoretical and numerical studies of entanglement entropy in lattice gauge theories. It is shown that the concept of quantum entanglement between gauge fields in two complementary regions of space can only be introduced if the Hilbert space of physical states is extended in a certain way. In the extended Hilbert space, the entanglement entropy can be partially interpreted as the classical Shannon entropy of the flux of the gauge fields through the boundary between the two regions. Such an extension leads to a reduction procedure which can easily be implemented in lattice simulations by constructing lattices with special topology. This enables us to measure the entanglement entropy in lattice Monte-Carlo simulations. On the simplest example of Z 2 lattice gauge theory in dimensions we demonstrate the relation between the entanglement entropy and the classical entropy of the field flux. For lattice gauge theory in four dimensions, we find a signature of non-analytic dependence of the entanglement entropy on the size of the region. We also comment on the holographic interpretation of the entanglement entropy.
Entanglement entropy has proven to be an extremely useful concept in quantum field theory. Gauge theories are of particular interest, but for these systems the entanglement entropy is not clearly defined because the physical Hilbert space does not factor as a tensor product according to regions of space. Here we review a definition of entanglement entropy that applies to abelian and nonabelian lattice gauge theories. This entanglement entropy is obtained by embedding the physical Hilbert space into a product of Hilbert spaces associated to regions with boundary. The latter Hilbert spaces include degrees of freedom on the entangling surface that transform like surface charges under the gauge symmetry. These degrees of freedom are shown to contribute to the entanglement entropy, and the form of this contribution is determined by the gauge symmetry. We test our definition using the example of two-dimensional Yang-Mills theory, and find that it agrees with the thermal entropy in de Sitter space, and with the results of the Euclidean replica trick. We discuss the possible implications of this result for more complicated gauge theories, including quantum gravity.
We report on the recent progress in theoretical and numerical studies of entanglement entropy in lattice gauge theories.It is shown that the concept of quantum entanglement between gauge fields in two complementary regions of space can only be introduced if the Hilbert space of physical states is extended in a certain way.In the extended Hilbert space, the entanglement entropy can be partially interpreted as the classical Shannon entropy of the flux of the gauge fields through the boundary between the two regions.Such an extension leads to a reduction procedure which can be easily implemented in lattice simulations by constructing lattices with special topology.This enables us to measure the entanglement entropy in lattice Monte-Carlo simulations.On the simplest example of Z 2 lattice gauge theory in (2 + 1) dimensions we demonstrate the relation between entanglement entropy and the classical entropy of the field flux.For SU (2) lattice gauge theory in four dimensions, we find a signature of non-analytic dependence of the entanglement entropy on the size of the region.We also comment on the holographic interpretation of the entanglement entropy.
In gauge theories the presence of constraints can obstruct expressing the global Hilbert space as a tensor product of the Hilbert spaces corresponding to degrees of freedom localized in complementary regions. In algebraic terms, this is due to the presence of a center---a set of operators which commute with all others---in the gauge invariant operator algebra corresponding to a finite region. A unique entropy can be assigned to algebras with a center, giving a place to a local entropy in lattice gauge theories. However, ambiguities arise on the correspondence between algebras and regions. In particular, it is always possible to choose (in many different ways) local algebras with a trivial center, and hence a genuine entanglement entropy, for any region. These choices are in correspondence with maximal trees of links on the boundary, which can be interpreted as partial gauge fixings. This interpretation entails a gauge fixing dependence of the entanglement entropy. In the continuum limit, however, ambiguities in the entropy are given by terms local on the boundary of the region, in such a way relative entropy and mutual information are finite, universal, and gauge independent quantities.
A definition for the entanglement entropy in a gauge theory was given recently in arXiv:1501.02593. Working on a spatial lattice, it involves embedding the physical state in an extended Hilbert space obtained by taking the tensor product of the Hilbert space of states on each link of the lattice. This extended Hilbert space admits a tensor product decomposition by definition and allows a density matrix and entanglement entropy for the set of links of interest to be defined. Here, we continue the study of this extended Hilbert space definition with particular emphasis on the case of Non-Abelian gauge theories. We extend the electric centre definition of Casini, Huerta and Rosabal to the Non-Abelian case and find that it differs in an important term. We also find that the entanglement entropy does not agree with the maximum number of Bell pairs that can be extracted by the processes of entanglement distillation or dilution, and give protocols which achieve the maximum bound. Finally, we compute the topological entanglement entropy which follows from the extended Hilbert space definition and show that it correctly reproduces the total quantum dimension in a class of Toric code models based on Non-Abelian discrete groups.
We revisit the issue of the geometrical separability of the Hilbert space of physical states on lattice Abelian theories in the context of entanglement entropy. We discuss the conditions under which vectors in the Hilbert space, as well as the gauge-invariant algebra, admit a tensor product decomposition with a geometrical interpretation. With the exception of pure gauge lattices with periodic boundary conditions which contain topological degrees of freedom, we show that the Hilbert space is geometrically separable.