Solution of the fermionic entanglement problem with interface defects

We study the ground-state entanglement of two halves of a critical transverse Ising chain, separated by an interface defect. From the relation to a two-dimensional Ising model with a defect line we obtain an exact expression for the continuously varying effective central charge. The result is relevant also for other fermionic chains.Comment: 15 pages, 6 figures, changed title and minor modifications in published versio

Critical entanglement of XXZ Heisenberg chains with defects

We study the entanglement properties of anisotropic open spin one-half Heisenberg chains with a modified central bond. The entanglement entropy between the two half-chains is calculated with the density-matrix renormalization method (DMRG).We find a logarithmic behaviour with an effective central charge c' varying with the length of the system. It flows to one in the ferromagnetic region and to zero in the antiferromagnetic region of the model. In the XX case it has a non-universal limit and we recover previous results.Comment: 8 pages, 15 figure

Fluctuations in subsystems of the zero temperature XX chain: Emergence of an effective temperature

The zero-temperature XX chain is studied with emphasis on the properties of a block of $L$ spins inside the chain. We investigate the quantum fluctuations resulting from the entanglement of the block with the rest of the chain using analytical as well as numerical (density matrix renormalization group) methods. It is found that the rest of the chain acts as a thermal environment and an effective temperature can be introduced to describe the fluctuations. We show that the effective temperature description is robust in the sense that several independent definitions (through fluctuation dissipation theorem, comparing with a finite temperature system) yield the same functional form in the limit of large block size ($L\to\infty$). The effective temperature can also be shown to satisfy the basic requirements on how it changes when two bodies of equal or unequal temperatures are brought into contact.Comment: 19 pages, 7 figure

On single-copy entanglement

The largest eigenvalue of the reduced density matrix for quantum chains is shown to have a simple physical interpretation and power-law behaviour in critical systems. This is verified numerically for XXZ spin chains.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, note added, typo correcte

On the reduced density matrix for a chain of free electrons

The properties of the reduced density matrix describing an interval of N sites in an infinite chain of free electrons are investigated. A commuting operator is found for arbitrary filling and also for open chains. For a half filled periodic chain it is used to determine the eigenfunctions for the dominant eigenvalues analytically in the continuum limit. Relations to the critical six-vertex model are discussed.Comment: 8 pages, small changes, Equ.(24) corrected, final versio

On entanglement evolution across defects in critical chains

We consider a local quench where two free-fermion half-chains are coupled via a defect. We show that the logarithmic increase of the entanglement entropy is governed by the same effective central charge which appears in the ground-state properties and which is known exactly. For unequal initial filling of the half-chains, we determine the linear increase of the entanglement entropy.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures, minor changes, reference adde

Casimir Terms and Shape Instabilities for Two-Dimensional Critical Systems

We calculate the universal part of the free energy of certain finite two- dimensional regions at criticality by use of conformal field theory. Two geometries are considered: a section of a circle ("pie slice") of angle \phi and a helical staircase of finite angular (and radial) extent. We derive some consequences for certain matrix elements of the transfer matrix and corner transfer matrix. We examine the total free energy, including non- universal edge free energy terms, in both cases. A new, general, Casimir instability toward sharp corners on the boundary is found; other new instability behavior is investigated. We show that at constant area and edge length, the rectangle is unstable against small curvature.Comment: 15 pages PostScript, accepted for publication in Z. Phys.

Surface and bulk entanglement in free-fermion chains

We consider free-fermion chains where full and empty parts are connected by a transition region with narrow surfaces. This can be caused by a linear potential or by time evolution from a step-like initial state. Entanglement spectra, entanglement entropies and fluctuations are determined for subsystems either in the surface region or extending into the bulk. In all cases there is logarithmic behaviour in the subsystem size, but the prefactors in the surface differ from those in the bulk by 3/2. A previous fluctuation result is corrected and a general scaling formula is inferred from the data.Comment: 14 pages, 6 figures, minor changes, references adde

Critical Properties of the One-Dimensional Forest-Fire Model

The one-dimensional forest-fire model including lightnings is studied numerically and analytically. For the tree correlation function, a new correlation length with critical exponent \nu ~ 5/6 is found by simulations. A Hamiltonian formulation is introduced which enables one to study the stationary state close to the critical point using quantum-mechanical perturbation theory. With this formulation also the structure of the low-lying relaxation spectrum and the critical behaviour of the smallest complex gap are investigated numerically. Finally, it is shown that critical correlation functions can be obtained from a simplified model involving only the total number of trees although such simplified models are unable to reproduce the correct off-critical behaviour.Comment: 24 pages (plain TeX), 4 PostScript figures, uses psfig.st