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arXiv:2306.12291 · Journal of High Energy Physics

Entanglement entropy in conformal quantum mechanics

Michele Arzano, Alessandra D’Alise, Domenico Frattulillo

Published Oct 26, 2023• 6 citations
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Abstract

A bstract We consider sets of states in conformal quantum mechanics associated to generators of time evolution whose orbits cover different regions of the time domain. States labelled by a continuous global time variable define the two-point correlation functions of the theory seen as a one-dimensional conformal field theory. Such states exhibit the structure of a thermofield double built on bipartite eigenstates of generators of non-global time evolution. In terms of the correspondence between radial conformal symmetries in Minkowski space-time and time evolution in conformal quantum mechanics proposed in [1, 2] these generators coincide with conformal Killing vectors tangent to worldlines of Milne and diamond observers at constant radius. The temperature of the thermofield double states in conformal quantum mechanics reproduces the temperatures perceived by such diamond and Milne observers. We calculate the entanglement entropy associated to the thermofield double states and obtain a UV divergent logarithmic behaviour analogous to known results in two-dimensional conformal field theory in which the entangling boundary is point-like.

DOI
10.1007/jhep10(2023)165

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A bstract We consider sets of states in conformal quantum mechanics associated to generators of time evolution whose orbits cover different regions of the time domain. States labelled by a continuous global time variable define the two-point correlation functions of the theory seen as a one-dimensional conformal field theory. Such states exhibit the structure of a thermofield double built on bipartite eigenstates of generators of non-global time evolution. In terms of the correspondence between radial conformal symmetries in Minkowski space-time and time evolution in conformal quantum mechanics proposed in [1, 2] these generators coincide with conformal Killing vectors tangent to worldlines of Milne and diamond observers at constant radius. The temperature of the thermofield double states in conformal quantum mechanics reproduces the temperatures perceived by such diamond and Milne observers. We calculate the entanglement entropy associated to the thermofield double states and obtain a UV divergent logarithmic behaviour analogous to known results in two-dimensional conformal field theory in which the entangling boundary is point-like.
The generators of radial conformal symmetries in Minkowski space-time can be put in correspondence with generators of time evolution in conformal quantum mechanics. Within this correspondence we show that in conformal quantum mechanics the state corresponding to the inertial vacuum for a conformally invariant field in Minkowski spacetime has the structure of a thermofield double. The latter is built from a bipartite ”vacuum state” corresponding to the ground state of the generators of hyperbolic time evolution. These can evolve states only within a portion of the time domain. When such generators correspond to conformal Killing vectors mapping a causal diamond in itself and generators of dilations, the temperature of the thermofield double reproduces, respectively, the diamond temperature and the Milne temperature found for massless fields in Minkowski spacetime. Moreover we calculate the entanglement entropy associated to the thermofield double states and obtain a UV divergent logarithmic behaviour analogous to known results in two-dimensional conformal field theory in which the entangling boundary is point-like.
We show that the dynamics resulting from preparing a one-dimensional quantum system in the ground state of two decoupled parts, then joined together and left to evolve unitarily with a translational invariant Hamiltonian (a local quench), can be described by means of quantum field theory. In the case when the corresponding theory is conformal, we study the evolution of the entanglement entropy for different bipartitions of the line. We also consider the behavior of one- and two-point correlation functions. All our findings may be explained in terms of a picture, that we believe to be valid more generally, whereby quasiparticles emitted from the joining point at the initial time propagate semiclassically through the system.
In this thesis we study the time evolution of Rényi and entanglement entropies of thermal states in Conformal Field Theory (CFT). These quantities are usually hard to compute but Ryu-Takayanagi (RT) and Hubeny-Rangamani-Takayanagi (HRT) proposals allow us to find the same quantities using calculations in general relativity. We will introduce main concepts of holography, quantum information and conformal field theory that will be used to derive the results of this thesis. In the first part of the thesis, we explicitly compute entanglement entropy of the rotating BTZ black hole by directly applying HRT proposal and finding lengths of spacelike geodesics. Rényi entropy of thermal state perturbed by a local quantum quench is computed by mapping correlators on two glued cylinders to the plane for field theory containing a single free boson and for 2d CFTs in the large c limit. We consider Thermofield Double State (TFD) which is an entangled state in direct product of two 2D CFTs. It is conjectured to be holographically equivalent to the eternal BTZ black hole. TFD state is perturbed by a local quench in one CFT and mutual information between two intervals in two CFTs is computed. We find when mutual information vanishes and interpret this as scrambling time, i.e. time scale required for the system to thermalize. This field theory result is modelled with a massive free falling particle in the BTZ black hole. We have computed the back-reaction of the particle on the metric of BTZ and used RT proposal to find holographic entanglement entropy. Finally, we generalize this calculation to the case of rotating BTZ with inner and outer horizons. It is dual to the CFT with different temperatures for left and right moving modes. We calculate mutual information and scrambling time and find exact agreement between results in the gravity and those in the CFT.
A bstract We develop a unified framework for computing Rényi and entanglement entropies of arbitrary spacetime intervals in time-dependent states of (1 + 1)-dimensional conformal field theories. By combining the spacetime density matrix formalism with the replica method, we show that entanglement entropy is well defined for both spacelike and timelike separations. Applying this framework to global quenches prepared by boundary states and to local quenches generated by operator insertions, we obtain analytic expressions for the entanglement entropy in general spacetime configurations. The results reveal qualitative differences between spacelike and timelike intervals: the timelike entanglement entropy is time-independent in the global quench model, depends solely on the temporal separation, and universally exhibits a constant imaginary contribution. These features are naturally explained by a generalized quasiparticle picture in which entanglement is produced precisely when one worldline of each quasiparticle pair intersects the interval. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the linear sum rule relating time- and spacelike entanglement persists in both global and local quenches, indicating a broader universality of spacetime entanglement in real-time quantum dynamics.
The entanglement entropy of a pure quantum state of a bipartite system A union or logical sumB is defined as the von Neumann entropy of the reduced density matrix obtained by tracing over one of the two parts. In one dimension, the entanglement of critical ground states diverges logarithmically in the subsystem size, with a universal coefficient that for conformally invariant critical points is related to the central charge of the conformal field theory. We find that the entanglement entropy of a standard class of z=2 conformal quantum critical points in two spatial dimensions, in addition to a nonuniversal "area law" contribution linear in the size of the AB boundary, generically has a universal logarithmically divergent correction, which is completely determined by the geometry of the partition and by the central charge of the field theory that describes the critical wave function.