Entanglement entropy of disordered quantum wire junctions

Abstract

We consider different disordered lattice models composed of M linear chains glued together in a star-like manner, and study the scaling of the entanglement between one arm and the rest of the system using a numerical strong-disorder renormalization group method. For all studied models, the random transverse-field Ising model (RTIM), the random XX spin model, and the free-fermion model with random nearest-neighbor hopping terms, the average entanglement entropy is found to increase with the length L of the arms according to the form . For the RTIM and the XX model, the effective central charge is universal with respect to the details of junction, and only depends on the number M of arms. Interestingly, for the RTIM, decreases with M, whereas for the XX model it increases. For the free-fermion model, depends also on the details of the junction, which is related to the sublattice symmetry of the model. In this case, both increasing and decreasing tendency with M can be realized with appropriate junction geometries.