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arXiv:1907.00044 · Journal of Statistical Mechanics Theory and Experiment

Free-Fermion entanglement and orthogonal polynomials

Nicolas Crampé, Rafael I. Nepomechie, Luc Vinet

Published Sep 1, 2019• 48 citations
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Abstract

Abstract We present a simple construction for a tridiagonal matrix T that commutes with the hopping matrix for the entanglement Hamiltonian of open finite free-Fermion chains associated with families of discrete orthogonal polynomials. It is based on the notion of algebraic Heun operator attached to bispectral problems, and the parallel between entanglement studies and the theory of time and band limiting. As examples, we consider Fermionic chains related to the Chebychev, Krawtchouk and dual Hahn polynomials. For the former case, which corresponds to a homogeneous chain, the outcome of our construction coincides with a recent result of Eisler and Peschel; the latter cases yield commuting operators for particular inhomogeneous chains. Since T is tridiagonal and non-degenerate, it can be readily diagonalized numerically, which in turn can be used to calculate the spectrum of , and therefore the entanglement entropy.

DOI
10.1088/1742-5468/ab3787

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Abstract We present a simple construction for a tridiagonal matrix T that commutes with the hopping matrix for the entanglement Hamiltonian of open finite free-Fermion chains associated with families of discrete orthogonal polynomials. It is based on the notion of algebraic Heun operator attached to bispectral problems, and the parallel between entanglement studies and the theory of time and band limiting. As examples, we consider Fermionic chains related to the Chebychev, Krawtchouk and dual Hahn polynomials. For the former case, which corresponds to a homogeneous chain, the outcome of our construction coincides with a recent result of Eisler and Peschel; the latter cases yield commuting operators for particular inhomogeneous chains. Since T is tridiagonal and non-degenerate, it can be readily diagonalized numerically, which in turn can be used to calculate the spectrum of , and therefore the entanglement entropy.
Entanglement in finite and semi-infinite free Fermionic chains is studied. A parallel is drawn with the analysis of time and band limiting in signal processing. It is shown that a tridiagonal matrix commuting with the entanglement Hamiltonian can be found using the algebraic Heun operator construct in instances when there is an underlying bispectral problem. Cases corresponding to the Lie algebras [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] as well as to the q-deformed algebra [Formula: see text] at [Formula: see text] a root of unity are presented.
We study the entanglement Hamiltonian for free-fermion chains with a particular form of inhomogeneity. The hopping amplitudes and chemical potentials are chosen such that the single-particle eigenstates are related to discrete orthogonal polynomials of the Askey scheme. Due to the bispectral properties of these functions, one can construct an operator which commutes exactly with the entanglement Hamiltonian and corresponds to a linear or parabolic deformation of the physical one. We show that this deformation is interpreted as a local inverse temperature and can be obtained in the continuum limit via methods of conformal field theory. Using this prediction, the properly rescaled eigenvalues of the commuting operator are found to provide a very good approximation of the entanglement spectrum and entropy.
Free Fermions on vertices of distance-regular graphs are considered. Bipartitions are defined by taking as one part all vertices at a given distance from a reference vertex. The ground state is constructed by filling all states below a certain energy. Borrowing concepts from time and band limiting problems, algebraic Heun operators and Terwilliger algebras, it is shown how to obtain, quite generally, a block tridiagonal matrix that commutes with the entanglement Hamiltonian. The case of the Hadamard graphs is studied in detail within that framework and the existence of the commuting matrix is shown to allow for an analytic diagonalization of the restricted two-point correlation matrix and hence for an explicit determination of the entanglement entropy.
We introduce an inhomogeneous model of free fermions on a (D−1)-dimensional lattice with D(D−1)/2 continuous parameters that control the hopping strength between adjacent sites. We solve this model exactly, and find that the eigenfunctions are given by multidimensional generalizations of Krawtchouk polynomials. We construct a Heun operator that commutes with the chopped correlation matrix, and compute the entanglement entropy numerically for D=2,3,4, for a wide range of parameters. For D=2, we observe oscillations in the sub-leading contribution to the entanglement entropy, for which we conjecture an exact expression. For D>2, we find logarithmic violations of the area law for the entanglement entropy with nontrivial dependence on the parameters.
Free fermions on Hamming graphs H(d,q) are considered and the entanglement entropy for two types of subsystems is computed. For subsets of vertices that form Hamming subgraphs, an analytical expression is obtained. For subsets corresponding to a neighborhood, i.e. to a set of sites at a fixed distance from a reference vertex, a decomposition in irreducible submodules of the Terwilliger algebra of H(d,q) also yields a closed formula for the entanglement entropy. Finally, for subsystems made out of multiple neighborhoods, it is shown how to construct a block-tridiagonal operator which commutes with the entanglement Hamiltonian. It is identified as a BC-Gaudin magnet Hamiltonian in a magnetic field and is diagonalized by the modified algebraic Bethe ansatz.