Symmetry-resolved entanglement entropy in critical free-fermion chains

Quantum coherence, entanglement, quantum correlations (81P40) Two-dimensional field theories, conformal field theories, etc. in quantum mechanics (81T40) Many-body theory; quantum Hall effect (81V70) Fermionic systems in quantum theory (81V74) Lattice systems (Ising, dimer, Potts, etc.) and systems on graphs arising in equilibrium statistical mechanics (82B20) Phase transitions (general) in equilibrium statistical mechanics (82B26) Critical phenomena in equilibrium statistical mechanics (82B27)

Abstract: The symmetry-resolved R'enyi entanglement entropy is the R'enyi entanglement entropy of each symmetry sector of a density matrix

h o

. This experimentally relevant quantity is known to have rich theoretical connections to conformal field theory (CFT). For a family of critical free-fermion chains, we present a rigorous lattice-based derivation of its scaling properties using the theory of Toeplitz determinants. We consider a class of critical quantum chains with a microscopic U(1) symmetry; each chain has a low energy description given by

N

massless Dirac fermions. For the density matrix,

h o_{A}

, of subsystems of

L

neighbouring sites we calculate the leading terms in the large

L

asymptotic expansion of the symmetry-resolved R'enyi entanglement entropies. This follows from a large

L

expansion of the charged moments of

h o_{A}

; we derive

t r (e^{i a l p h a Q_{A}} h o_{A}^{n}) = a e^{i a l p h a l a n g l e Q_{A} a n g l e} (s i g m a L)^{- x} (1 + O (L^{- m u}))

, where

a, x

and

m u

are universal and

s i g m a

depends only on the

N

Fermi momenta. We show that the exponent

x

corresponds to the expectation from CFT analysis. The error term

O (L^{- m u})

is consistent with but weaker than the field theory prediction

O (L^{- 2 m u})

. However, using further results and conjectures for the relevant Toeplitz determinant, we find excellent agreement with the expansion over CFT operators.

Review text

The entanglement entropy, defined using the reduced density matrix of a multipartite quantum state, plays an important role in understanding the nature of quantum states. For quantum systems with a symmetry, the reduced density matrix can be further projected into the sectors with different symmetry charges to define the so-called symmetry-resolved entanglement entropy for each symmetry sector. This paper calculates the symmetry-resolved Rényi entanglement entropy of \(L\) consecutive sites in a family of critical free fermionic chains with U(1) symmetry (particle-number conservation). These lattice models have a low-energy effective theory given by \(N\) massless Dirac fermions. The calculation of the symmetry-resolved entanglement entropy is performed by considering the large \(L\) asymptotic expansion of the charged moments of the reduced density matrix, whose Fourier transform gives the symmetry-resolved Rényi entropies. Using Toeplitz determinant theory, the leading and subleading terms of the charged moments are calculated and compared with conformal field theory results. A particular emphasis is given to the analysis of the subleading correction, where the discrepancy in an error term is discussed and open issues are pointed out.

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