Thermodynamic singularities in the entanglement entropy at a two-dimensional quantum critical point

Abstract

We study the bipartite entanglement entropy of the 2D transverse-field Ising model in the thermodynamic limit. Series expansions are developed for the Renyi entropy around both the small-field and large-field limits, allowing the separate calculation of the entanglement associated with lines and corners at the boundary between subsystems. Series extrapolations are used to extract power laws and logarithmic singularities as the quantum critical point is approached, giving access to new universal quantities. In 1D, we find excellent agreement with exact results as well as quantum Monte Carlo simulations. In 2D, we find compelling evidence that the entanglement at a corner is significantly different from a free boson field theory. These results demonstrate the power of the series expansion method for calculating entanglement entropy in interacting systems, a fact that will be particularly useful in searches for exotic quantum criticality in models with and without the sign problem.