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arXiv:2405.11342 · Entropy

Entanglement Entropy of Free Fermions with a Random Matrix as a One-Body Hamiltonian

Leonid Andreevich Pastur, Victor V. Slavin

Published Jun 30, 2024• 0 citations
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Abstract

We consider a quantum system of large size N and its subsystem of size L, assuming that N is much larger than L, which can also be sufficiently large, i.e., 1≪L≲N. A widely accepted mathematical version of this inequality is the asymptotic regime of successive limits: first the macroscopic limit N→∞, then an asymptotic analysis of the entanglement entropy as L→∞. In this paper, we consider another version of the above inequality: the regime of asymptotically proportional L and N, i.e., the simultaneous limits L→∞,N→∞,L/N→λ>0. Specifically, we consider a system of free fermions that is in its ground state, and such that its one-body Hamiltonian is a large random matrix, which is often used to model long-range hopping. By using random matrix theory, we show that in this case, the entanglement entropy obeys the volume law known for systems with short-range hopping but described either by a mixed state or a pure strongly excited state of the Hamiltonian. We also give streamlined proof of Page’s formula for the entanglement entropy of black hole radiation for a wide class of typical ground states, thereby proving the universality and the typicality of the formula.

DOI
10.3390/e26070564

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•Mar 8, 2017•0 citations
We consider a quantum system of large size N and its subsystem of size L, assuming that N is much larger than L, which can also be sufficiently large, i.e., 1≪L≲N. A widely accepted mathematical version of this inequality is the asymptotic regime of successive limits: first the macroscopic limit N→∞, then an asymptotic analysis of the entanglement entropy as L→∞. In this paper, we consider another version of the above inequality: the regime of asymptotically proportional L and N, i.e., the simultaneous limits L→∞,N→∞,L/N→λ>0. Specifically, we consider a system of free fermions that is in its ground state, and such that its one-body Hamiltonian is a large random matrix, which is often used to model long-range hopping. By using random matrix theory, we show that in this case, the entanglement entropy obeys the volume law known for systems with short-range hopping but described either by a mixed state or a pure strongly excited state of the Hamiltonian. We also give streamlined proof of Page’s formula for the entanglement entropy of black hole radiation for a wide class of typical ground states, thereby proving the universality and the typicality of the formula.
We study the ground-state entanglement entropy of free fermions on random graphs. We first establish a general criterion for the volume law on random graphs, based on the spectral characteristics of the Hamiltonian. We then apply this criterion to the Erdős--Rényi random graph, where each of the possible edges is present independently with some probability. Using random matrix theory and asymptotic freeness, we show that the ground-state entanglement entropy obeys an exact volume law in Erdős--Rényi graphs in the thermodynamic limit, with a universal coefficient that is independent of the edge probability of the graph. This coefficient is confirmed numerically to take the value approximately 0.38630.38630.3863 nats, strictly below the Page value. The volume law therefore reflects the absence of geometric locality in the random graph.
The paper deals with the asymptotic behavior of a widely used correlation characteristic in large quantum systems. The correlation is quantum entanglement, the characteristic is entanglement entropy, and the system is an ideal gas of lattice fermions. If the one-body Hamiltonian of fermions is an ergodic finite difference operator with an exponentially decaying spectral projection, then the large-block form of the entanglement entropy is the so-called area law. However, the only class of one-body Hamiltonians for which this spectral condition was verified consists of discrete Schrödinger operators with random potential. In this paper, we prove the area law for several classes of Schrödinger operators whose potentials are ergodic but not random. We begin with quasiperiodic and limit-periodic operators and then move to a highly non-trivial case of potentials generated by subshifts of finite type. These arose in the theory of dynamical systems when studying chaotic phenomena. The corresponding asymptotic study requires involved spectral analysis, which therefore constitutes the bulk of the paper. Specifically, we prove uniform localisation of the eigenfunctions for the Maryland model and exponential decay of the eigenfunction correlator for various models. We believe these properties are of significant independent interest.
We demonstrate that the entanglement entropy area law for free fermion ground states and the corresponding volume law for highly excited states are related by a position-momentum duality, and thus are of the same origin. For a typical excited state in the thermodynamic limit, we further show that the reduced density matrix of a subsystem approaches the thermal density matrix, provided the subsystem's linear size is small compared to that of the whole system in all directions, a property we dub eigenstate typicality. This provides an explicit example of thermalization via entanglement, and reveals how statistical physics emerges from a single eigenstate by tracing out a large number of degrees of freedom.
In a seminal paper, Page found the exact formula for the average entanglement entropy for a pure random state. We consider the analogous problem for the ensemble of pure fermionic Gaussian states, which plays a crucial role in the context of random free Hamiltonians. Using recent results from random matrix theory, we show that the average entanglement entropy of pure random fermionic Gaussian states in a subsystem of NA{N}_{A}NA​ out of NNN degrees of freedom is given by ${\ensuremath{\langle}{S}_{A}\ensuremath{\rangle}}_{\mathrm{G}}=(N\ensuremath{-}\frac{1}{2})\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Psi}}(2N)+(\frac{1}{4}\ensuremath{-}{N}_{A})\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Psi}}(N)+(\frac{1}{2}+{N}_{A}\ensuremath{-}N)\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Psi}}(2N\ensuremath{-}2{N}_{A})\ensuremath{-}\frac{1}{4}\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Psi}}(N\ensuremath{-}{N}_{A})\ensuremath{-}{N}_{A}$, where $\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Psi}}$ is the digamma function. Its asymptotic behavior in the thermodynamic limit is given by ${\ensuremath{\langle}{S}_{A}\ensuremath{\rangle}}_{\mathrm{G}}=N(log2\ensuremath{-}1)f+N(f\ensuremath{-}1)log(1\ensuremath{-}f)+\frac{1}{2}f+\frac{1}{4}log(1\ensuremath{-}f)\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}+\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}O(1/N)$, where $f={N}_{A}/N\ensuremath{\le}1/2$. Remarkably, its leading order agrees with the average over eigenstates of random quadratic Hamiltonians with number conservation, as found by \L{}yd\ifmmode \dot{z}\else \.{z}\fi{}ba, Rigol, and Vidmar. Finally, we compute the variance in the thermodynamic limit, given by the constant ${lim}_{N\ensuremath{\rightarrow}\ensuremath{\infty}}{(\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Delta}}{S}_{A})}_{\mathrm{G}}^{2}=\frac{1}{2}[f+{f}^{2}+log(1\ensuremath{-}f)]$.
The entanglement entropy of subsystems of typical eigenstates of quantum many-body Hamiltonians has recently been conjectured to be a diagnostic of quantum chaos and integrability. In quantum chaotic systems it has been found to behave as in typical pure states, while in integrable systems it has been found to behave as in typical pure Gaussian states. In this tutorial, we provide a pedagogical introduction to known results about the entanglement entropy of subsystems of typical pure states and of typical pure Gaussian states. They both exhibit a leading term that scales with the volume of the subsystem, when smaller than one half of the volume of the system, but the prefactor of the volume law is fundamentally different. It is constant (and maximal) for typical pure states, and it depends on the ratio between the volume of the subsystem and of the entire system for typical pure Gaussian states. Since particle-number conservation plays an important role in many physical Hamiltonians, we discuss its effect on typical pure states and on typical pure Gaussian states. We prove that, while the behavior of the leading volume-law terms does not change qualitatively, the nature of the subleading terms can change. In particular, subleading corrections can appear that depend on the square root of the volume of the subsystem. We unveil the origin of those corrections. Finally, we discuss the connection between the entanglement entropy of typical pure states and analytical results obtained in the context of random matrix theory, as well as numerical results obtained for physical Hamiltonians.
In a seminal paper [Phys. Rev. Lett. 71, 1291 (1993)], Page conjectured that the entanglement entropy of typical pure states is Styp≃ln⁡DA−(1/2)DA2/DS_{\rm typ}\simeq\ln{\cal D}_{\rm A} - (1/2) {\cal D}_{\rm A}^2/{\cal D}Styp​≃lnDA​−(1/2)DA2​/D, where DA{\cal D}_{\rm A}DA​ and D{\cal D}D are the Hilbert space dimensions of the subsystem and the system, respectively, and typicality is with respect to the Haar measure. Typical pure states are hence (nearly) maximally entangled. We prove that S1+=ln⁡DA−[1/(2ln⁡2)](ln⁡DA)2/ln⁡DS^+_1=\ln{\cal D}_{\rm A} - [1/(2\ln2)] (\ln{\cal D}_{\rm A})^2/\ln{\cal D}S1+​=lnDA​−[1/(2ln2)](lnDA​)2/lnD is an upper bound for the average entanglement entropy of all many-body fermionic eigenstates of a class of translationally invariant quadratic Hamiltonians in one dimension, and that the variance vanishes with increasing system size. Consequently, whenever the size of the subsystem is not a vanishing fraction of the size of the system, typical eigenstates of such Hamiltonians have a volume-law entanglement but do not become maximally entangled as D→∞{\cal D}\rightarrow\inftyD→∞, i.e., they are qualitatively different from typical pure states. We also prove that, in the limit in which the subsystem size is a vanishing fraction of the system size, the average entanglement entropy is maximal.