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State-dependent divergences in the entanglement entropy

Donald M. Marolf, Aron C. Wall

Published Oct 1, 2016• 14 citations
OpenAlex

Abstract

We show the entanglement entropy in certain quantum field theories to contain state-dependent divergences. Both perturbative and holographic examples are exhibited. However, quantities such as the relative entropy and the generalized entropy of black holes remain finite, due to cancellation of divergences. We classify all possible state-dependent divergences that can appear in both perturbatively renormalizeable and holographic covariant $d\le 6$ quantum field theories.

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State-dependent divergences in the entanglement entropy

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We show the entanglement entropy in certain quantum field theories to contain state-dependent divergences. Both perturbative and holographic examples are exhibited. However, quantities such as the relative entropy and the generalized entropy of black holes remain finite, due to cancellation of divergences. We classify all possible state-dependent divergences that can appear in both perturbatively renormalizeable and holographic covariant d≤6d\le 6d≤6 quantum field theories.
With an aim towards understanding the time-dependence of entanglement entropy in generic quantum field theories, we propose a covariant generalization of the holographic entanglement entropy proposal of hep-th/0603001. Apart from providing several examples of possible covariant generalizations, we study a particular construction based on light-sheets, motivated in similar spirit to the covariant entropy bound underlying the holographic principle. In particular, we argue that the entanglement entropy associated with a specified region on the boundary in the context of the AdS/CFT correspondence is given by the area of a co-dimension two bulk surface with vanishing expansions of null geodesics. We demonstrate our construction with several examples to illustrate its reduction to the holographic entanglement entropy proposal in static spacetimes. We further show how this proposal may be used to understand the time evolution of entanglement entropy in a time varying QFT state dual to a collapsing black hole background. Finally, we use our proposal to argue that the Euclidean wormhole geometries with multiple boundaries should be regarded as states in a non-interacting but entangled set of QFTs, one associated to each boundary.
Abstract The renormalization of entanglement entropy of quantum field theories is investigated in the simplest setting with a λϕ4 scalar field theory. The 3+1 dimensional spacetime is separated into two regions by an infinitely flat 2-dimensional interface. The entanglement entropy of the system across the interface has an elegant geometrical interpretation using the replica trick, which requires putting the field theory on a curved spacetime background. We demonstrate that the theory, and hence the entanglement entropy, is renormalizable at order λ once all the relevant operators up to dimension 4 are included in the action. This exercise has a one-to-one correspondence to entanglement entropy interpretation of the black hole entropy which suggests that our treatment is sensible. Our study suggests that entanglement entropy is renormalizable and is a physical quantity.
The renormalization of entanglement entropy of quantum field theories is investigated in the simplest setting with a λϕ4λϕ^4λϕ4 scalar field theory. The 3+1 dimensional spacetime is separated into two regions by an infinitely flat 2-dimensional interface. The entanglement entropy of the system across the interface has an elegant geometrical interpretation using the replica trick, which requires putting the field theory on a curved spacetime background. We demonstrate that the theory, and hence the entanglement entropy, is renormalizable at order λλλ once all the relevant operators up to dimension-4 are included in the action. This exercise has a one-to-one correspondence to entanglement entropy interpretation of the black hole entropy which suggests that our treatment is sensible. Our study suggests that entanglement entropy is renormalizable and is a physical quantity.
A recent proposal by Ryu and Takayanagi for a holographic interpretation of entanglement entropy in conformal field theories dual to supergravity on anti-de Sitter space is generalized to include entanglement entropy of black holes living on the boundary of anti-de Sitter space. The generalized proposal is verified in boundary dimensions d=2 and d=4 for both the uv-divergent and uv-finite terms. In dimension d=4 an expansion of entanglement entropy in terms of size L of the subsystem outside the black hole is considered. A new term in the entropy of dual strongly coupled conformal-field theory, which universally grows as L(2)lnL and is proportional to the value of the obstruction tensor at the black hole horizon, is predicted.
Understanding the dependence of entanglement entropy on the renormalized mass in quantum field theories can provide insight into phenomena such as quantum phase transitions, since the mass varies in a singular way near the transition. Here we perturbatively calculate the entanglement entropy in interacting scalar field theory, focusing on the dependence on the field’s mass. We study λϕ 4 and g ϕ 3 theories in their ground state. By tracing over a half space, using the replica trick and position space Green’s functions on the cone, we show that spacetime volume divergences cancel and renormalization can be consistently performed in this conical geometry. We establish finite contributions to the entanglement entropy up to two-loop order, involving a finite area law. The resulting entropy is simple and intuitive: the free theory result in d = 3 (that we included in an earlier publication) Δ S ∼ A m 2 ln ( m 2 ) is altered, to leading order, by replacing the bare mass m by the renormalized mass m r evaluated at the renormalization scale of zero momentum.