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arXiv:2510.02256 · New Journal of Physics

Fate of entanglement in open quantum spin liquid: time evolution of its genuine multipartite negativity upon sudden coupling to a dissipative bosonic environment

Federico Garcia-Gaitan, Branislav K. Nikolić

Published Jul 20, 2026• 0 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Abstract Many-body entanglement properties of quantum spin liquids (QSLs), persisting at arbitrarily long distances, have been intensely explored over the past two decades, but mostly for QSLs viewed as closed quantum systems. However, in experiments and potential quantum computing applications, candidate materials for this exotic phase of quantum matter will always interact with a dissipative environment, such as the one generated by bosonic quasiparticles in solids at finite temperature. Here we investigate both the stability and spatial distribution of entanglement for the Kitaev model of QSL, which is made open by its sudden coupling to an infinite bosonic bath of Caldeira–Leggett type and then time-evolved in both Markovian and non-Markovian regimes. From the time-dependent density matrix of QSL subregions, we extract genuine multipartite negativity (GMN), quantum Fisher information, spin–spin correlators, and the expectation value (EV) of the Wilson loop operator. In particular, time dependence of GMN offers the most penetrating insights: ( i ) in the Markovian regime, it remains nonzero only in hexagonal loopy subregions of QSL (as also discovered very recently for closed QSLs), eventually vanishing on the same timescale on which the EV of the Wilson loop operator vanishes; ( ii ) in the non-Markovian regime with pronounced memory effects, surprisingly, GMN remains nonzero up to much higher temperatures. In addition, the non-Markovian dynamics generates emergent interactions between spins, thereby opening avenues for tailoring properties of QSL via engineering of dissipation.

DOI
10.1088/1367-2630/ae8d4e

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Abstract Many-body entanglement properties of quantum spin liquids (QSLs), persisting at arbitrarily long distances, have been intensely explored over the past two decades, but mostly for QSLs viewed as closed quantum systems. However, in experiments and potential quantum computing applications, candidate materials for this exotic phase of quantum matter will always interact with a dissipative environment, such as the one generated by bosonic quasiparticles in solids at finite temperature. Here we investigate both the stability and spatial distribution of entanglement for the Kitaev model of QSL, which is made open by its sudden coupling to an infinite bosonic bath of Caldeira–Leggett type and then time-evolved in both Markovian and non-Markovian regimes. From the time-dependent density matrix of QSL subregions, we extract genuine multipartite negativity (GMN), quantum Fisher information, spin–spin correlators, and the expectation value (EV) of the Wilson loop operator. In particular, time dependence of GMN offers the most penetrating insights: ( i ) in the Markovian regime, it remains nonzero only in hexagonal loopy subregions of QSL (as also discovered very recently for closed QSLs), eventually vanishing on the same timescale on which the EV of the Wilson loop operator vanishes; ( ii ) in the non-Markovian regime with pronounced memory effects, surprisingly, GMN remains nonzero up to much higher temperatures. In addition, the non-Markovian dynamics generates emergent interactions between spins, thereby opening avenues for tailoring properties of QSL via engineering of dissipation.
Abstract Quantum spin liquids (QSLs) give rise to exotic emergent particles by weaving intricate entanglement patterns in the underlying electrons. Bipartite measures between subregions can detect the presence of anyons, but little is known about the full entanglement structure of QSLs. Here, we study the multiparty entanglement of QSLs via entanglement microscopy. We find that in contrast to conventional matter, the genuine multiparty entanglement (GME) between spins is absent in the smallest subregions, a phenomenon we call ``entanglement frustration.'' Instead, GME is more collective, and arises solely in loops. By exploiting exact results and large-scale numerics, we confirm these properties in various gapped and gapless QSLs realized in physically motivated Hamiltonians, as well as with string-net wavefunctions hosting abelian or non-abelian anyons. Our results shed new light on the phase diagram of Kitaev’s honeycomb model in a Zeeman field, and the Kagome Heisenberg model under various perturbations. Going beyond QSLs, we provide evidence that entanglement loops are a universal property of quantum gauge theories. This leads to a new understanding of fractionalization, and the means by which gauge bosons encode quantum information.
The entanglement of many localized spins (LSs) within solid magnetic materials is a topic of great basic and applied interest, particularly after becoming amenable to experimental scrutiny where recent neutron scattering experiments have witnessed macroscopic entanglement in the ground state (GS) of antiferromagnets persisting even at elevated temperatures. On the other hand, spintronics and magnonics studies assume that LSs of antiferromagnets are in unentangled N\'eel GS, as well as that they evolve, when pushed out of equilibrium by current or external fields, according to the Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert (LLG) equation viewing LSs as classical vectors of fixed length. The prerequisite for applicability of the LLG equation is zero entanglement in the underlying many-body quantum state of LSs. In this study, we initialize quantum Heisenberg ferro- or antiferromagnetic chains hosting S=1/2,S=1S=1/2, S=1S=1/2,S=1, or S=5/2S=5/2S=5/2 LSs into an unentangled pure state and then evolve them by quantum master equations (QMEs) of Lindblad or non-Markovian type, derived by coupling LSs weakly to a bosonic bath (due to phonons in real materials) or by using additional ``reaction coordinate'' in the latter case. The time evolution is initiated by applying an external magnetic field, and entanglement of the ensuing mixed quantum states is monitored by computing its negativity. We find that non-Markovian dynamics never brings entanglement to zero, in the presence of which the vector of spin expectation value changes its length to render the LLG equation inapplicable. Conversely, Lindbladian (i.e., Markovian) dynamics ensures that entanglement goes to 0, thereby enabling quantum-to-classical transition in all cases---S=1/2,S=1S=1/2, S=1S=1/2,S=1, and S=5/2S=5/2S=5/2 ferromagnets or S=5/2S=5/2S=5/2 antiferromagnets---except for S=1/2S=1/2S=1/2 and S=1S=1S=1 antiferromagnets. Finally, we investigate the stability of an entangled antiferromagnetic GS upon suddenly coupling it to bosonic baths.
Quantum spin liquids (QSL) are phases of matter which are distinguished not by the symmetries they break, but rather by the patterns of entanglement within them. Although these entanglement properties have been widely discussed for ground states, the way in which QSL form at finite temperature remains an open question. Here we introduce a method of characterizing both the depth and spatial structure of entanglement, and use this to explore how patterns of entanglement form as temperature is reduced in two widely studied models of QSL, the Kitaev honeycomb model, and the spin-1/2 Heisenberg antiferromagnet on a Kagome lattice. These results enable us to evaluate both the temperature at which spins within the high-temperature paramagnet first become entangled, and the temperature at which the system first develops the structured, multipartite entanglement characteristic of its QSL ground state.
In 1935, as part of a broader debate about the interpretation of quantum mechanics, Schrödinger introduced the term “verschränkung” (entanglement) to describe the way in which mutually-exclusive experimental outcomes could be woven together in a single quantum mechanical state. Ninety years later, entanglement is no longer a philosophical curiosity but a technological resource, central to the pursuit of quantum advantage sought in the entanglement of a few hundred qubits. In the context of condensed matter physics, the most celebrated example of entanglement arises in quantum spin liquids (QSL), exotic magnetic phases where, at comparable temperatures, billions of spins can be entangled. The sharpest distinctions between conventional magnetic phases, QSL, and states driven by disorder, are expected to be found in their entanglement properties. Yet exactly what these distinctions are, or how they might be used in experiments, remains poorly understood. In this thesis, we explore how material-based imperfections such as bond disorder and finite temperature affect experimentally accessible entanglement-based diagnostics in models of quantum spin liquids (QSLs). We ask: (1) Can spin liquid states be reliably distinguished from disorder-driven phases using such diagnostics? (2) What can these experimentally accessible entanglement witnesses reveal about the microscopic structure of entanglement in QSLs? In particular, we examine the robustness of these quantum correlations under realistic conditions where thermal fluctuations are unavoidable. In addressing (1), we find that measures like concurrence become unreliable in disordered systems. In contrast, the finite temperature scaling of multipartite diagnostics such as the quantum Fisher information (QFI) provides a more effective means of distinguishing QSLs from competing disorder-dominated phases. For (2), we investigate how the finite temperature behavior of multipartite entanglement measures obtained from semidefinite programming (SDP) methods supports a two step picture for how a high temperature paramagnet crosses over into a QSL ground state. In particular, these results provide a conceptual framework that places quantitative bounds on the temperature window over which candidate materials can be expected to exhibit the characteristic physics of the QSL ground state.
The question, whether an open system dynamics is Markovian or non-Markovian can be answered by studying the direction of the information flow in the dynamics. In Markovian dynamics, information must always flow from the system to the environment. If the environment is interacting with only one of the subsystems of a bipartite system, the dynamics of the entanglement in the bipartite system can be used to identify the direction of information flow. Here we study the dynamics of a two-level system interacting with an environment, which is also a heat bath, and consists of a large number of two-level quantum systems. Our model can be seen as a close approximation to the `spin bath' model at low temperatures. We analyze the Markovian nature of the dynamics, as we change the coupling between the system and the environment. We find the Kraus operators of the dynamics for certain classes of couplings. We show that any form of time-independent or time-polynomial coupling gives rise to non-Markovianity. Also, we witness non-Markovianity for certain parameter values of time-exponential coupling. Moreover, we study the transition from non-Markovian to Markovian dynamics as we change the value of coupling strength.
The question, whether an open system dynamics is Markovian or non-Markovian can be answered by studying the direction of the information flow in the dynamics. In Markovian dynamics, information must always flow from the system to the environment. If the environment is interacting with only one of the subsystems of a bipartite system, the dynamics of the entanglement in the bipartite system can be used to identify the direction of information flow. Here we study the dynamics of a two-level system interacting with an environment, which is also a heat bath, and consists of a large number of two-level quantum systems. Our model can be seen as a close approximation to the 'spin bath' model at low temperatures. We analyze the Markovian nature of the dynamics, as we change the coupling between the system and the environment. We find the Kraus operators of the dynamics for certain classes of couplings. We show that any form of time-independent or time-polynomial coupling gives rise to non-Markovianity. Also, we witness non-Markovianity for certain parameter values of time-exponential coupling. Moreover, we study the transition from non-Markovian to Markovian dynamics as we change the value of coupling strength.