We develop the finite-size scaling (FSS) theory at quantum transitions. We consider various boundary conditions, such as open and periodic boundary conditions, and characterize the corrections to the leading FSS behavior. Using renormalization-group (RG) theory, we generalize the classical scaling ansatz to describe FSS in the quantum case, classifying the different sources of scaling corrections. We identify nonanalytic corrections due to irrelevant (bulk and boundary) RG perturbations and analytic contributions due to regular backgrounds and analytic expansions of the nonlinear scaling fields. To check the general predictions, we consider the quantum
XY chain in a transverse field. For this model exact or numerically accurate results can be obtained by exploiting its fermionic quadratic representation. We study the FSS of several observables, such as the free energy, the energy differences between low-energy levels, correlation functions of the order parameter, etc., confirming the general predictions in all cases. Moreover, we consider bipartite entanglement entropies, which are characterized by the presence of additional scaling corrections, as predicted by conformal field theory.
We discuss the entanglement spectrum of the ground state of a (1+1)-dimensional system in a gapped phase near a quantum phase transition. In particular, in proximity to a quantum phase transition described by a conformal field theory (CFT), the system is represented by a gapped Lorentz invariant field theory in the ``scaling limit'' (correlation length $\ensuremath{\xi}$ much larger than microscopic ``lattice'' scale ``
a''), and can be thought of as a CFT perturbed by a relevant perturbation. We show that for such (1+1) gapped Lorentz invariant field theories in infinite space, the low-lying entanglement spectrum obtained by tracing out, say, left half-infinite space, is precisely equal to the physical spectrum of the unperturbed gapless, i.e., conformal field theory defined on a finite interval of length ${L}_{\ensuremath{\xi}}=\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}ln(\ensuremath{\xi}/a)$ with certain boundary conditions. In particular, the low-lying entanglement spectrum of the gapped theory is the finite-size spectrum of a boundary conformal field theory, and is always discrete and universal. Each relevant perturbation, and thus each gapped phase in proximity to the quantum phase transition, maps into a particular boundary condition. A similar property has been known to hold for Baxter's corner transfer matrices in a very special class of fine-tuned, namely, integrable off-critical lattice models, for the entire entanglement spectrum and independent of the scaling limit. In contrast, our result applies to completely general gapped Lorentz invariant theories in the scaling limit, without the requirement of integrability, for the low-lying entanglement spectrum. While the entanglement spectrum of the ground state of a gapped theory on a finite interval of length
2R with suitable boundary conditions, bipartitioned into two equal pieces, turns out to exhibit a crossover between the finite-size spectra of the same CFT with in general different boundary conditions as the system size
R crosses the correlation length from the ``critical regime'' $R\ensuremath{\ll}\ensuremath{\xi}$ to the ``gapped regime'' $R\ensuremath{\gg}\ensuremath{\xi}$, the physical spectrum on a finite interval of length
R with the same boundary conditions, on the other hand, is known to undergo a dramatic reorganization during the same crossover from being discrete to being continuous.
Using the density matrix renormalization group, we calculated the finite-size corrections of the entanglement $\ensuremath{\alpha}$-R\'enyi entropy of a single interval for several critical quantum chains. We considered models with
U(1) symmetry such as the spin-1/2
XXZ and spin-1 Fateev-Zamolodchikov models, as well as models with discrete symmetries such as the Ising, the Blume-Capel, and the three-state Potts models. These corrections contain physically relevant information. Their amplitudes, which depend on the value of $\ensuremath{\alpha}$, are related to the dimensions of operators in the conformal field theory governing the long-distance correlations of the critical quantum chains. The obtained results together with earlier exact and numerical ones allow us to formulate some general conjectures about the operator responsible for the leading finite-size correction of the $\ensuremath{\alpha}$-R\'enyi entropies. We conjecture that the exponent of the leading finite-size correction of the $\ensuremath{\alpha}$-R\'enyi entropies is ${p}_{\ensuremath{\alpha}}=2{X}_{\ensuremath{\epsilon}}/\ensuremath{\alpha}$ for $\ensuremath{\alpha}>1$ and ${p}_{1}=\ensuremath{\nu}$, where ${X}_{\ensuremath{\epsilon}}$ denotes the dimensions of the energy operator of the model and $\ensuremath{\nu}=2$ for all the models.
The spectrum of the quantum Ising chain is studied in the finite-size scaling limit for periodic and antiperiodic boundary conditions. The finite-size corrections are computed for all energy gaps. The results of the model are used to test the Privman-Fisher universality hypothesis and conformal theory. At the critical point, it is shown how to build the spectrum from the irreducible representations of the Virasoro algebra. In addition, the author finds evidence for an unsuspected symmetry for systems both non-critical and of finite size.
We numerically obtain the conformal spectrum of several classical spin models on a two-dimensional lattice with open boundaries for every boundary fixed point obtained by the Cardy's derivation [J. L. Cardy, Nucl. Phys. B 324, 581 (1989)]. In order to extract accurate conformal data, we implement the tensor network renormalization algorithm [G. Evenbly and G. Vidal, Phys. Rev. Lett. 115, 180405 (2015)] extended so as to be applicable to a square lattice with open boundaries. We successfully compute the boundary conformal spectrum consistent with the underlying boundary conformal field theories (BCFTs) for the Ising, tricritical Ising, and three-state Potts models on the lattice, which allows us to confirm the validity of the BCFT analyses for the surface critical behaviors of those lattice models.