Origin of the anomalies: the modified Heisenberg equation

The origin of the anomalies is analyzed. It is shown that they are due to the fact that the generators of the symmetry do not leave invariant the domain of definition of the Hamiltonian and then a term, normally forgotten in the Heisenberg equation, gives an extra contribution responsible for the non conservation of the charges. This explanation is equivalent to that of the Fujikawa in the path integral formalism. Finally, this approach is applied to the conformal symmetry breaking in two-dimensional quantum mechanics.Comment: 7 pages, LaTe

Phase transition in the assignment problem for random matrices

We report an analytic and numerical study of a phase transition in a P problem (the assignment problem) that separates two phases whose representatives are the simple matching problem (an easy P problem) and the traveling salesman problem (a NP-complete problem). Like other phase transitions found in combinatoric problems (K-satisfiability, number partitioning) this can help to understand the nature of the difficulties in solving NP problems an to find more accurate algorithms for them.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures; accepted for publication in Europhys. Lett. http://www.edpsciences.org/journal/index.cfm?edpsname=ep

Vacuum Nodes and Anomalies in Quantum Theories

We show that nodal points of ground states of some quantum systems with magnetic interactions can be identified in simple geometric terms. We analyse in detail two different archetypical systems: i) a planar rotor with a non-trivial magnetic flux $\Phi$, ii) Hall effect on a torus. In the case of the planar rotor we show that the level repulsion generated by any reflection invariant potential $V$ is encoded in the nodal structure of the unique vacuum for $\theta=\pi$. In the second case we prove that the nodes of the first Landau level for unit magnetic charge appear at the crossing of the two non-contractible circles $\alpha_-$, $\beta_-$ with holonomies $h_{\alpha_-}(A)= h_{\beta_-}(A)=-1$ for any reflection invariant potential $V$. This property illustrates the geometric origin of the quantum translation anomaly.Comment: 14 pages, 2 ps-figures, to appear in Commun. Math. Phy

Excited state entanglement in homogeneous fermionic chains

We study the Renyi entanglement entropy of an interval in a periodic fermionic chain for a general eigenstate of a free, translational invariant Hamiltonian. In order to analytically compute the entropy we use two technical tools. The first one is used to reduce logarithmically the complexity of the problem and the second one to compute the R\'enyi entropy of the chosen subsystem. We introduce new strategies to perform the computations, derive new expressions for the entropy of these general states and show the perfect agreement of the analytical computations and the numerical outcome. Finally we discuss the physical interpretation of our results and generalise them to compute the entanglement entropy for a fragment of a fermionic ladder.Comment: 31 pages, 1 table, 8 figures. Final version published in J. Phys. A. References and section added. Typos correcte

Entanglement in fermionic chains with finite range coupling and broken symmetries

We obtain a formula for the determinant of a block Toeplitz matrix associated with a quadratic fermionic chain with complex coupling. Such couplings break reflection symmetry and/or charge conjugation symmetry. We then apply this formula to compute the Renyi entropy of a partial observation to a subsystem consisting of $X$ contiguous sites in the limit of large $X$. The present work generalizes similar results due to Its, Jin, Korepin and Its, Mezzadri, Mo. A striking new feature of our formula for the entanglement entropy is the appearance of a term scaling with the logarithm of the size of $X$. This logarithmic behaviour originates from certain discontinuities in the symbol of the block Toeplitz matrix. Equipped with this formula we analyse the entanglement entropy of a Dzyaloshinski-Moriya spin chain and a Kitaev fermionic chain with long range pairing.Comment: 27 pages, 5 figure

On the M\"obius transformation in the entanglement entropy of fermionic chains

There is an intimate relation between entanglement entropy and Riemann surfaces. This fact is explicitly noticed for the case of quadratic fermionic Hamiltonians with finite range couplings. After recollecting this fact, we make a comprehensive analysis of the action of the M\"obius transformations on the Riemann surface. We are then able to uncover the origin of some symmetries and dualities of the entanglement entropy already noticed recently in the literature. These results give further support for the use of entanglement entropy to analyse phase transition.Comment: 29 pages, 5 figures. Final version published in JSTAT. Two new figures. Some comments and references added. Typos correcte

Nonextensive thermodynamic functions in the Schr\"odinger-Gibbs ensemble

Schr\"odinger suggested that thermodynamical functions cannot be based on the gratuitous allegation that quantum-mechanical levels (typically the orthogonal eigenstates of the Hamiltonian operator) are the only allowed states for a quantum system [E. Schr\"odinger, Statistical Thermodynamics (Courier Dover, Mineola, 1967)]. Different authors have interpreted this statement by introducing density distributions on the space of quantum pure states with weights obtained as functions of the expectation value of the Hamiltonian of the system. In this work we focus on one of the best known of these distributions, and we prove that, when considered in composite quantum systems, it defines partition functions that do not factorize as products of partition functions of the noninteracting subsystems, even in the thermodynamical regime. This implies that it is not possible to define extensive thermodynamical magnitudes such as the free energy, the internal energy or the thermodynamic entropy by using these models. Therefore, we conclude that this distribution inspired by Schr\"odinger's idea can not be used to construct an appropriate quantum equilibrium thermodynamics.Comment: 32 pages, revtex 4.1 preprint style, 5 figures. Published version with several changes with respect to v2 in text and reference

Experimental observation of oscillating and interacting matter wave dark solitons

We report on the generation, subsequent oscillation and interaction of a pair of matter wave dark solitons. These are created by releasing a Bose-Einstein condensate from a double well potential into a harmonic trap in the crossover regime between one dimension (1D) and three dimensions (3D). The oscillation of the solitons is observed and the frequency is in quantitative agreement with simulations using the Gross-Pitaevskii equation. An effective particle picture is developed and reveals that the deviation of the observed frequencies from the asymptotic prediction $\nu_{z}/\sqrt{2}$, where $\nu_{z}$ is the longitudinal trapping frequency, results from the dimensionality of the system and the interaction between the solitons.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure