Abstract We investigate quantum entanglement in a non-relativistic critical system by calculating the logarithmic negativity of a class of mixed states in the quantum Lifshitz model in one and two spatial dimensions. In 1+1 dimensions we employ a correlator approach to obtain analytic results for both open and periodic biharmonic chains. In 2+1 dimensions we use a replica method and consider spherical and toroidal spatial manifolds. In all cases, the universal finite part of the logarithmic negativity vanishes for mixed states defined on two disjoint components. For mixed states defined on adjacent components, we find a non-trivial logarithmic negativity reminiscent of two-dimensional conformal field theories. As a byproduct of our calculations, we obtain exact results for the odd entanglement entropy in 2+1 dimensions.
Abstract We investigate quantum entanglement in a non-relativistic critical system by calculating the logarithmic negativity of a class of mixed states in the quantum Lifshitz model in one and two spatial dimensions. In 1+1 dimensions we employ a correlator approach to obtain analytic results for both open and periodic biharmonic chains. In 2+1 dimensions we use a replica method and consider spherical and toroidal spatial manifolds. In all cases, the universal finite part of the logarithmic negativity vanishes for mixed states defined on two disjoint components. For mixed states defined on adjacent components, we find a non-trivial logarithmic negativity reminiscent of two-dimensional conformal field theories. As a byproduct of our calculations, we obtain exact results for the odd entanglement entropy in 2+1 dimensions.
In recent years, the study of entanglement properties of quantum field theories has led to deep insights in fields as diverse as quantum gravity and condensed matter physics. Originating as effective field theories for certain quantum dimer models, the Quantum Lifshitz Model (QLM) and its generalizations are bosonic quantum field theories with anisotropic scaling symmetry between space and time. Being closely related to conformal field theories, they provide a fruitful playground, where diverse entanglement calculations can be performed analytically. \n \nIn this thesis, we concentrate on two entanglement measures, the entanglement entropy and logarithmic negativity. Motivated to extract sub-leading universal behavior, we perform analytic calculations in two and higher even dimensions. In order to make the calculations tractable, we put the QLM on compact manifolds, such as spheres and tori, where the spectrum of a certain operator appearing in the ground state of the theory is explicitly known. Mostly by means of the replica method, we then find analytic expressions for the finite sub-leading terms of the entanglement entropy and logarithmic negativity of the ground state, as well as the entanglement entropy of the excited states of the QLM. In the case of the ground state entanglement entropy, we provide analytic expressions for the sub-leading terms as functions of the dimension and the dynamical critical exponent. For the excited states we provide analytic formulae of the sub-leading coefficients as functions of the excitation numbers.
In this thesis we study entanglement in one-dimensional critical quantum many-body systems and in particular we will focus on disconnected regions. Given a system in a pure state, to quantify the amount of entanglement between a multicomponent subsystem and the rest of the full system we can use as an entanglement measure the renowned entanglement entropy. However, if we are interested in the entanglement shared among the disconnected regions, the entanglement entropy fails to be a good quantifier. The reason is that the state of the subsystem is in general mixed once the rest is traced out, and the entanglement entropy is a good measure of entanglement only for pure states. A good measure of entanglement in mixed states is the logarithmic negativity, which is the quantitative version of Peres' criterion of separability. The main advantage of the negativity with respect to other entanglement measures is the simplicity of its definition in terms of the density matrix describing the quantum state. Since the definition does not require any variational calculus, it is much more easily computable than any other entanglement measure, and therefore we can obtain some results also in complicated settings such as many-body systems. We will be mostly interested in the configuration where the full system is divided into two parts, A and B. If we do not have access to the degrees of freedom in B, we can describe subsystem A through its reduced density matrix, where the degrees of freedom in B have been traced out. The residual subsystem in A will in general be left in a mixed state. Subsystem A is then divided again into two parts, A_1 and A_2, and we will be interested in the entanglement shared by these two components. Knowing the full density matrix, the logarithmic negativity can be easily computed from the eigenvalues of its partial transpose with respect to the degrees of freedom living in one of the two subsystems A_1 or A_2. However, the full density matrix of a many-body state is in general unaccessible, even numerically, since the size of the matrix grows exponentially with the size of the system. If we concentrate on critical systems whose low-energy physics can be described by a quantum field theory, we can resort to its powerful tools to compute the entanglement properties. In particular the main tool is the replica trick. The entanglement entropy is obtained from the moments of the reduced density matrix, while the negativity can be computed from the moments of the partial transpose. However, even the computation of the integer-order moments is not an easy task, and exact analytical results are known only for the simplest quantum field theories. Hence, throughout the thesis we will usually consider conformal field theories, which have an enhanced set of symmetries and therefore allow for some exact computations. In the Introduction, we will try to frame this work by briefly reviewing some of the main topics in the literature of quantum many-body systems and quantum field theories where entanglement plays a crucial role. We will also describe what are the main features that are requested to a `good' measure of entanglement, and we will review some of the main measures that have been considered so far in the context of quantum information. We will define the entanglement negativity and stress its main advantages, as well as its drawbacks. After reviewing some basic facts of conformal field theories, we will give some technical details on the computation of entanglement entropy and logarithmic negativity in general quantum field theories, which will be needed in the rest of the thesis. In Chap. 2 we will start the study of the entanglement of several disjoint disconnected regions by considering the entanglement that the union of these regions share with the rest of the system. We will compute the integer-order Rényi entropies of the subsystem from which the entanglement entropy can be obtained through the replica limit. Unfortunately, the exact analytic continuation to real order is still out of reach and therefore the entanglement entropy cannot be computed exactly. However numerical extrapolations allow to obtain some accurate estimates. In the remaining chapters we will focus on the entanglement shared between two non complementary disjoint regions, through the computations of the entanglement negativity in different settings. In Chap. 3, we will consider a global quantum quench starting from a conformal boundary state and evolving through a conformal evolution. A general formula for the mutual information and the logarithmic negativity for two adjacent and disjoint intervals is given in the spacetime limit. In Chap. 4 we focus on the XY chain and we recover a formula for the partial transpose as a sum of four fermionic auxiliary Gaussian density matrices, by generalizing some previous results for the reduced density matrix of spin systems and for the partial transpose of pure fermionc Gaussian states. Even if the computation of the negativity is still out of reach, we can obtain formulas for the integer-order moments of the partial transpose in terms of the correlation matrices relative to the two components and to the region in between them. In Chap. 5 we will study the entanglement negativity for a free Dirac fermion field. Starting from the lattice results, we will obtain a path integral representation of the partial transpose which can be easily generalized to the continuum. With this representation of the partial transpose, we can construct all its integer-order moments and compute them for the simple conformal field theory of the free fermion. Again, the computation of the negativity could not be accomplished due to technical difficulties in the analytic continuation to real order. The same computation has been extended also to the modular invariant Dirac fermion and the Ising model, and the obtained formulas coincide with the ones already present in the literature. This analysis draws an interesting connection between some terms appearing in the formulas for the moments of the partial transpose (as well as of the R\'enyi entropies) found for the lattice models and the ones found for the corresponding theories describing their scaling limit. Whenever possible, all the analytical results will be checked against numerical calculations performed on simple free chain models. In Chaps. 2 and 3 we will consider bosonic Gaussian states, specifically the harmonic chain in its ground state and out of equilibrium, while in Chaps. 4 and 5 we will consider fermionic systems, specifically the XX and Ising spin chains, and the tight-binding model. Finally, we will draw some conclusions and discuss some open problems.
The entanglement entropy and the logarithmic negativity can be computed in quantum field theory through a method based on the replica limit. Performing these analytic continuations in some cases is beyond our current knowledge, even for simple models. We employ a numerical method based on rational interpolations to extrapolate the entanglement entropy of two disjoint intervals for the conformal field theories given by the free compact boson and the Ising model. The case of three disjoint intervals is studied for the Ising model and the non compact free massless boson. For the latter model, the logarithmic negativity of two disjoint intervals has been also considered. Some of our findings have been checked against existing numerical results obtained from the corresponding lattice models.
Abstract We compute universal finite corrections to entanglement entropy for generalised quantum Lifshitz models in arbitrary odd spacetime dimensions. These are generalised free field theories with Lifshitz scaling symmetry, where the dynamical critical exponent z equals the number of spatial dimensions d, and which generalise the 2+1-dimensional quantum Lifshitz model to higher dimensions. We analyse two cases: one where the spatial manifold is a d-dimensional sphere and the entanglement entropy is evaluated for a hemisphere, and another where a d-dimensional flat torus is divided into two cylinders. In both examples the finite universal terms in the entanglement entropy are scale invariant and depend on the compactification radius of the scalar field.
We construct a contour function for the logarithmic negativity and the logarithm of the moments of the partial transpose of the reduced density matrix for multimode bosonic Gaussian states of a free lattice model. In one spatial dimension, numerical results are obtained for harmonic chains either in the ground state or at finite temperature, by considering, respectively, either a subsystem made by two adjacent or disjoint blocks on the line or a bipartition of the circle. The contour function of the logarithmic negativity diverges only at the entangling points, while the contour function for the logarithm of the moments of the partial transpose is divergent also at the boundary of the bipartite subsystem, as functions of the position. In a two-dimensional conformal field theory, analytic expressions that describe these divergencies are discussed. In one spatial dimension, we explore the partial derivative of the logarithmic negativity of two adjacent intervals with respect to the logarithm of the harmonic ratio of their lengths while their ratio and the other parameters are kept fixed. Considering the ground state of the harmonic chain on the line and in the massive regime, we report numerical results showing that this quantity displays a monotonically decreasing behaviour.
A bstract We study the reflected entropy in (1+1)-dimensional Lifshitz field theory whose groundstate is described by a quantum mechanical model. Starting from tripartite Lifshitz groundstates, both critical and gapped, we derive explicit formulas for the Rényi reflected entropies reduced to two adjacent or disjoint intervals, directly in the continuum. We show that the reflected entropy in Lifshitz theory does not satisfy monotonicity, in contrast to what is observed for free relativistic fields. We analytically compute the full reflected entanglement spectrum for two disjoint intervals, finding a discrete set of eigenvalues which is that of a thermal density matrix. Furthermore, we investigate the Markov gap, defined as the difference between reflected entropy and mutual information, and find it to be universal and nonvanishing, signaling irreducible tripartite entanglement in Lifshitz groundstates. We also obtain analytical results for the reflected entropies and the Markov gap in 2 + 1 dimensions. Finally, as a byproduct of our results on reflected entropy, we provide exact formulas for two other entanglement-related quantities, namely the computable cross-norm negativity and the operator entanglement entropy.