We consider defining a fuzzy space by a specific state in a fermionic field theory in terms of which all the observables for the space can be evaluated. This allows for a definition of entanglement for a fuzzy space by direct integration of the fields over a certain region. Even though the resulting formula for the entanglement entropy (EE) is similar to what has been used in the quantum Hall effect, our derivation provides a novel perspective. We also review and strengthen the arguments for the EE to be described by a generalized Chern-Simons form.
We consider defining a fuzzy space by a specific state in a fermionic field theory in terms of which all the observables for the space can be evaluated. This allows for a definition of entanglement for a fuzzy space by direct integration of the fields over a certain region. Even though the resulting formula for the entanglement entropy (EE) is similar to what has been used in the quantum Hall effect, our derivation provides a novel perspective. We also review and strengthen the arguments for the EE to be described by a generalized Chern-Simons form.
Abstract Entanglement entropy, or von Neumann entropy, quantifies the amount of uncertainty of a quantum state. For quantum fields in curved space, entanglement entropy of the quantum field theory degrees of freedom is well-defined for a fixed background geometry. In this paper, we propose a generalization of the quantum field theory entanglement entropy by including dynamical gravity. The generalized quantity named effective entropy, and its Renyi entropy generalizations, are defined by analytic continuation of a replica calculation. The replicated theory is defined as a gravitational path integral with multiple copies of the original boundary conditions, with a co-dimension-2 brane at the boundary of region we are studying. We discuss different approaches to define the region in a gauge invariant way, and show that the effective entropy satisfies the quantum extremal surface formula. When the quantum fields carry a significant amount of entanglement, the quantum extremal surface can have a topology transition, after which an entanglement island region appears. Our result generalizes the Hubeny-Rangamani-Takayanagi formula of holographic entropy (with quantum corrections) to general geometries without asymptotic AdS boundary, and provides a more solid framework for addressing problems such as the Page curve of evaporating black holes in asymptotic flat spacetime. We apply the formula to two example systems, a closed two-dimensional universe and a four-dimensional maximally extended Schwarzchild black hole. We discuss the analog of the effective entropy in random tensor network models, which provides more concrete understanding of quantum information properties in general dynamical geometries. We show that, in absence of a large boundary like in AdS space case, it is essential to introduce ancilla that couples to the original system, in order for correctly characterizing quantum states and correlation functions in the random tensor network. Using the superdensity operator formalism, we study the system with ancilla and show how quantum information in the entanglement island can be reconstructed in a state-dependent and observer-dependent map. We study the closed universe (without spatial boundary) case and discuss how it is related to open universe.
Quantum entanglement is closely related to the structure of spacetime in quantum gravity. For quantum field theories or statistical models, we usually consider base space entanglement. However, target space instead of base space sometimes directly connects to our spacetime. In these cases, it is natural to consider a concept of target space entanglement. To define the target space entanglement, we consider a generalized definition of entanglement entropy based on an algebraic approach. This approach is reviewed and is applied to the first quantized particles, in particular, fermions. This article is based on the paper JHEP 08 (2021) 046 [arXiv:2105.13726].
Entanglement entropy, or von Neumann entropy, quantifies the amount of uncertainty of a quantum state. For quantum fields in curved space, entanglement entropy of the quantum field theory degrees of freedom is well-defined for a fixed background geometry. In this paper, we propose a generalization of the quantum field theory entanglement entropy by including dynamical gravity. The generalized quantity named effective entropy, and its Renyi entropy generalizations, are defined by analytic continuation of a replica calculation. The replicated theory is defined as a gravitational path integral with multiple copies of the original boundary conditions, with a co-dimension-2 brane at the boundary of region we are studying. We discuss different approaches to define the region in a gauge invariant way, and show that the effective entropy satisfies the quantum extremal surface formula. When the quantum fields carry a significant amount of entanglement, the quantum extremal surface can have a topology transition, after which an entanglement island region appears. Our result generalizes the Hubeny-Rangamani-Takayanagi formula of holographic entropy (with quantum corrections) to general geometries without asymptotic AdS boundary, and provides a more solid framework for addressing problems such as the Page curve of evaporating black holes in asymptotic flat spacetime. We apply the formula to two example systems, a closed two-dimensional universe and a four-dimensional maximally extended Schwarzchild black hole. We discuss the analog of the effective entropy in random tensor network models, which provides more concrete understanding of quantum information properties in general dynamical geometries. We show that, in absence of a large boundary like in AdS space case, it is essential to introduce ancilla that couples to the original system, in order for correctly characterizing quantum states and correlation functions in the random tensor network. Using the superdensity operator formalism, we study the system with ancilla and show how quantum information in the entanglement island can be reconstructed in a state-dependent and observer-dependent map. We study the closed universe (without spatial boundary) case and discuss how it is related to open universe.
We discuss two measures of entanglement in quantum field theory and their holographic realizations. For field theories admitting a global symmetry, we introduce a global symmetry entanglement entropy, associated with the partitioning of the symmetry group. This quantity is proposed to be related to the generalized holographic entanglement entropy defined via the partitioning of the internal space of the bulk geometry. Thesecond measure of quantum field theory entanglement is the field space entanglement entropy, obtained by integrating out a subset of the quantum fields. We argue that field space entanglement entropy cannot be precisely realised geometrically in a holographic dual. However, for holographic geometries with interior decoupling regions, the differential entropy provides a close analogue to the field space entanglement entropy. We derive generic descriptions of such inner throat regions in terms of gravity coupled to massive scalars and show how the differential entropy in the throat captures features of the field space entanglement entropy.
We analyze some features of the entanglement entropy for an integer quantum Hall state ($\ensuremath{\nu}=1$) in comparison with ideas from relativistic field theory and noncommutative geometry. The spectrum of the modular operator, for a restricted class of states, is shown to be similar to the case of field theory or a type III1 von Neumann algebra. We present arguments that the main part of the dependence of the entanglement entropy on background fields and geometric data such as the spin connection is given by a generalized Chern-Simons form. Implications of this result for bringing together ideas of noncommutative geometry, entropy and gravity are briefly commented upon.
We revisit the issue of defining the entropy of a spatial region in a broad class of quantum theories. In theories with explicit regularizations, working within an elementary but general algebraic framework applicable to matter and gauge theories alike, we give precise path integral expressions for three known types of entanglement entropy that we call full, distillable, and gauge-invariant. For a class of gauge theories that do not necessarily have a regularization in our framework, including Chern-Simons theory, we describe a related approach to defining entropies based on locally extending the Hilbert space at the entangling edge, and we discuss its connections to other calculational prescriptions. Based on results from both approaches, we conjecture that it is always the full entanglement entropy that is calculated by standard holographic techniques in strongly coupled conformal theories.