Entanglement evolution after connecting finite to infinite quantum chains

We study zero-temperature XX chains and transverse Ising chains and join an initially separate finite piece on one or on both sides to an infinite remainder. In both critical and non-critical systems we find a typical increase of the entanglement entropy after the quench, followed by a slow decay towards the value of the homogeneous chain. In the critical case, the predictions of conformal field theory are verified for the first phase of the evolution, while at late times a step structure can be observed.Comment: 15 pages, 11 figure

Exact relationship between the entanglement entropies of XY and quantum Ising chains

We consider two prototypical quantum models, the spin-1/2 XY chain and the quantum Ising chain and study their entanglement entropy, S(l,L), of blocks of l spins in homogeneous or inhomogeneous systems of length L. By using two different approaches, free-fermion techniques and perturbational expansion, an exact relationship between the entropies is revealed. Using this relation we translate known results between the two models and obtain, among others, the additive constant of the entropy of the critical homogeneous quantum Ising chain and the effective central charge of the random XY chain.Comment: 6 page

Entanglement entropy of aperiodic quantum spin chains

We study the entanglement entropy of blocks of contiguous spins in non-periodic (quasi-periodic or more generally aperiodic) critical Heisenberg, XX and quantum Ising spin chains, e.g. in Fibonacci chains. For marginal and relevant aperiodic modulations, the entanglement entropy is found to be a logarithmic function of the block size with log-periodic oscillations. The effective central charge, c_eff, defined through the constant in front of the logarithm may depend on the ratio of couplings and can even exceed the corresponding value in the homogeneous system. In the strong modulation limit, the ground state is constructed by a renormalization group method and the limiting value of c_eff is exactly calculated. Keeping the ratio of the block size and the system size constant, the entanglement entropy exhibits a scaling property, however, the corresponding scaling function may be nonanalytic.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figure

Phase diagram of a Bose-Fermi mixture in a one-dimensional optical lattice in terms of fidelity and entanglement

We study the ground-state phase diagram of a Bose-Fermi mixture loaded in a one-dimensional optical lattice by computing the ground-state fidelity and quantum entanglement. We find that the fidelity is able to signal quantum phase transitions between the Luttinger liquid phase, the density-wave phase, and the phase separation state of the system; and the concurrence can be used to signal the transition between the density-wave phase and the Ising phase.Comment: 4 pages 3 figure

Entanglement entropy in aperiodic singlet phases

We study the average entanglement entropy of blocks of contiguous spins in aperiodic XXZ chains which possess an aperiodic singlet phase at least in a certain limit of the coupling ratios. In this phase, where the ground state constructed by a real space renormalization group method, consists (asymptotically) of independent singlet pairs, the average entanglement entropy is found to be a piecewise linear function of the block size. The enveloping curve of this function is growing logarithmically with the block size, with an effective central charge in front of the logarithm which is characteristic for the underlying aperiodic sequence. The aperiodic sequence producing the largest effective central charge is identified, and the latter is found to exceed the central charge of the corresponding homogeneous model. For marginal aperiodic modulations, numerical investigations performed for the XX model show a logarithmic dependence, as well, with an effective central charge varying continuously with the coupling ratio.Comment: 18 pages, 9 figure

Entanglement and correlation functions following a local quench: a conformal field theory approach

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 bi-partitions 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.Comment: 19 pages, 4 figures, v2 typos corrected and refs adde

Entanglement in Many-Body Systems

The recent interest in aspects common to quantum information and condensed matter has prompted a prosperous activity at the border of these disciplines that were far distant until few years ago. Numerous interesting questions have been addressed so far. Here we review an important part of this field, the properties of the entanglement in many-body systems. We discuss the zero and finite temperature properties of entanglement in interacting spin, fermionic and bosonic model systems. Both bipartite and multipartite entanglement will be considered. At equilibrium we emphasize on how entanglement is connected to the phase diagram of the underlying model. The behavior of entanglement can be related, via certain witnesses, to thermodynamic quantities thus offering interesting possibilities for an experimental test. Out of equilibrium we discuss how to generate and manipulate entangled states by means of many-body Hamiltonians.Comment: 61 pages, 29 figure

Holographic Entanglement Entropy: An Overview

In this article, we review recent progresses on the holographic understandings of the entanglement entropy in the AdS/CFT correspondence. After reviewing the general idea of holographic entanglement entropy, we will explain its applications to confinement/deconfinement phase transitions, black hole entropy and covariant formulation of holography.Comment: 52 pages, Invited review article for a special issue "Entanglement entropy in extended quantum systems" in Journal of Physics A, edited by P.Calabrese, J. Cardy and B. Doyon; (v2) references adde

Entanglement in many-body systems

Recent interest in aspects common to quantum information and condensed matter has prompted a flurry of activity at the border of these disciplines that were far distant until a few years ago. Numerous interesting questions have been addressed so far. Here an important part of this field, the properties of the entanglement in many-body systems, are reviewed. The zero and finite temperature properties of entanglement in interacting spin, fermion, and boson model systems are discussed. Both bipartite and multipartite entanglement will be considered. In equilibrium entanglement is shown tightly connected to the characteristics of the phase diagram. The behavior of entanglement can be related, via certain witnesses, to thermodynamic quantities thus offering interesting possibilities for an experimental test. Out of equilibrium entangled states are generated and manipulated by means of many-body Hamiltonians