Entanglement entropy and gravity/condensed matter correspondence

Abstract

The entanglement entropy has been very important in various subjects such as the quantum information theory, condensed matter physics and quantum gravity. Especially, for more than twenty years, this quantity has been studied by many people in order to obtain a quantum mechanical interpretation of the gravitational entropy such as the black hole entropy. We will introduce recent progresses toward this long-standing problem in quantum gravity by applying the idea of holography, especially the AdS/CFT correspondence found in string theory. We will explain the holographic formula which computes the entanglement entropy of quantum field theories in terms of the area of minimal surfaces in general relativity. We will also review the recent application of AdS/CFT correspondence to condensed matter physics from the viewpoint of entanglement entropy.