Free-fermion Chain Research Articles

Bulk-Boundary Correspondence and Singularity-Filling in Long-Range Free-Fermion Chains

The bulk-boundary correspondence relates topologically protected edge modes to bulk topological invariants and is well understood for short-range free-fermion chains. Although case studies have considered long-range Hamiltonians whose couplings decay with a power-law exponent $\ensuremath{\alpha}$, there has been no systematic study for a free-fermion symmetry class. We introduce a technique for solving gapped, translationally invariant models in the 1D BDI and AIII symmetry classes with $\ensuremath{\alpha}>1$, linking together the quantized winding invariant, bulk topological string-order parameters, and a complete solution of the edge modes. The physics of these chains is elucidated by studying a complex function determined by the couplings of the Hamiltonian: in contrast to the short-range case where edge modes are associated to roots of this function, we find that they are now associated to singularities. A remarkable consequence is that the finite-size splitting of the edge modes depends on the topological winding number, which can be used as a probe of the latter. We furthermore generalize these results by (i) identifying a family of BDI chains with $\ensuremath{\alpha}<1$ where our results still hold and (ii) showing that gapless symmetry-protected topological chains can have topological invariants and edge modes when $\ensuremath{\alpha}\ensuremath{-}1$ exceeds the dynamical critical exponent.

Volume-to-area law entanglement transition in a non-Hermitian free fermionic chain

We consider the dynamics of the non-Hermitian Su-Schrieffer-Heeger model arising as the no-click limit of a continuously monitored free fermion chain where particles and holes are measured on two sublattices. The model has \mathcal{PT}𝒫𝒯-symmetry, which we show to spontaneously break as a function of the strength of measurement backaction, resulting in a spectral transition where quasiparticles acquire a finite lifetime in patches of the Brillouin zone. We compute the entanglement entropy’s dynamics in the thermodynamic limit and demonstrate an entanglement transition between volume-law and area-law scaling, which we characterize analytically. Interestingly we show that the entanglement transition and the \mathcal{PT}𝒫𝒯-symmetry breaking do not coincide, the former occurring when the entire decay spectrum of the quasiparticle becomes gapped.

Zero-mode entanglement across a conformal defect

We consider a free-fermion chain with a conformal defect that features an extended zero mode, and study the entanglement properties in its mixed ground state. The zero-mode induced degeneracy modifies the density of states in the single-particle entanglement spectrum, which can be calculated via the full counting statistics. For a homogeneous chain, the resulting change in the Rényi entropy is derived analytically for arbitrary subsystem ratios in the thermodynamic limit. For a conformal defect located in the center, analogous results can be obtained for the half-chain entanglement. In particular, we observe parity effects for half-chains with even/odd sites, which do not decay with size.

Entanglement evolution after a global quench across a conformal defect

We study the evolution of entanglement after a global quench in a one-dimensional quantum system with a localized impurity. For systems described by a conformal field theory, the entanglement entropy between the two regions separated by the defect grows linearly in time. Introducing the notion of boundary twist fields, we show how the slope of this growth can be related to the effective central charge that emerges in the study of ground-state entropy in the presence of the defect. On the other hand, we also consider a particular lattice realization of the quench in a free-fermion chain with a conformal defect. Starting from a gapped initial state, we obtain the slope via a quasiparticle ansatz and observe small discrepancies between the field theory and lattice results, which persist even in the limit of a vanishing gap.

Entanglement negativity in a nonequilibrium steady state

We study entanglement properties in a nonequilibrium steady state of a free-fermion chain, that emerges after connecting two half-chains prepared at different temperatures. The entanglement negativity and the R\'enyi mutual information between two adjacent intervals scale logarithmically in the system size, with prefactors that we calculate analytically as a function of the bath temperatures. In particular, we show that the negativity and the R\'enyi mutual information with index $\ensuremath{\alpha}=1/2$ are described by different prefactors, and thus the two quantities provide inequivalent information about the state. Furthermore, we show that the logarithmic growth of the negativity during time evolution is also governed by the steady-state prefactor.

Entanglement negativity in a fermionic chain with dissipative defects: exact results

We investigate the dynamics of the fermionic logarithmic negativity in a free-fermion chain with a localized loss, which acts as a dissipative impurity. The chain is initially prepared in a generic Fermi sea. In the standard hydrodynamic limit of large subsystems and long times, with their ratio fixed, the negativity between two subsystems is described by a simple formula, which depends only on the effective absorption coefficient of the impurity. The negativity grows linearly at short times, then saturating to a volume-law scaling. Physically, this reflects the continuous production with time of entangling pairs of excitations at the impurity site. Interestingly, the negativity is not the same as the Rényi mutual information with Rényi index , in contrast with the case of unitary dynamics. This reflects the interplay between dissipative and unitary processes. The negativity content of the entangling pairs is obtained in terms of an effective two-state mixed density matrix for the subsystems. Criticality in the initial Fermi sea is reflected in the presence of logarithmic corrections. The prefactor of the logarithmic scaling depends on the loss rate, suggesting a nontrivial interplay between dissipation and criticality.

Entanglement and negativity Hamiltonians for the massless Dirac field on the half line

We study the ground-state entanglement Hamiltonian of several disjoint intervals for the massless Dirac fermion on the half-line. Its structure consists of a local part and a bi-local term that couples each point to another one in each other interval. The bi-local operator can be either diagonal or mixed in the fermionic chiralities and it is sensitive to the boundary conditions. The knowledge of such entanglement Hamiltonian is the starting point to evaluate the negativity Hamiltonian, i.e. the logarithm of the partially transposed reduced density matrix, which is an operatorial characterisation of entanglement of subsystems in mixed states. We find that the negativity Hamiltonian inherits the structure of the corresponding entanglement Hamiltonian. We finally show how the continuum expressions for both these operators can be recovered from exact numerical computations in free-fermion chains.

Energy-twisted boundary condition and response in one-dimensional quantum many-body systems

Thermal transport in condensed matter systems is traditionally formulated as a response to a background gravitational field. In this work, we seek a twisted-boundary-condition formalism for thermal transport in analogy to the U(1) twisted boundary condition for electrical transport. Specifically, using the transfer matrix formalism, we introduce what we call the energy-twisted boundary condition, and study the response of the system to the boundary condition. As specific examples, we obtain the thermal Meissner stiffness of (1+1)-dimensional CFT, the Ising model, and disordered fermion models. We also identify the boost deformation of integrable systems as a bulk counterpart of the energy-twisted boundary condition. We show that the boost deformation of the free fermion chain can be solved explicitly by solving the inviscid Burgers equation. We also discuss the boost deformation of the XXZ model, and its nonlinear thermal Drude weights, by studying the boost-deformed Bethe ansatz equations.

Local and non-local properties of the entanglement Hamiltonian for two disjoint intervals

We consider free-fermion chains in the ground state and the entanglement Hamiltonian for a subsystem consisting of two separated intervals. In this case, one has a peculiar long-range hopping between the intervals in addition to the well-known and dominant short-range hopping. We show how the continuum expressions can be recovered from the lattice results for general filling and arbitrary intervals. We also discuss the closely related case of a single interval located at a certain distance from the end of a semi-infinite chain and the continuum limit for this problem. Finally, we show that for the double interval in the continuum a commuting operator exists which can be used to find the eigenstates.

Symmetry-Resolved Entanglement Entropy in Critical Free-Fermion Chains

The symmetry-resolved Rényi entanglement entropy is the Rényi entanglement entropy of each symmetry sector of a density matrix rho . 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, rho _A, of subsystems of L neighbouring sites we calculate the leading terms in the large L asymptotic expansion of the symmetry-resolved Rényi entanglement entropies. This follows from a large L expansion of the charged moments of rho _A; we derive mathrm {tr}(mathrm {e}^{mathrm {i}alpha Q_A} rho _A^n)~=~a mathrm {e}^{mathrm {i}alpha langle Q_Arangle } (sigma L)^{-x}(1+O(L^{-mu })), where a, x and mu are universal and sigma 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^{-mu }) is consistent with but weaker than the field theory prediction O(L^{-2mu }). However, using further results and conjectures for the relevant Toeplitz determinant, we find excellent agreement with the expansion over CFT operators.

Symmetry-resolved entanglement in a long-range free-fermion chain

We investigate the symmetry resolution of entanglement in the presence of long-range couplings. To this end, we study the symmetry-resolved entanglement entropy in the ground state of a fermionic chain that has dimerised long-range hoppings with power-like decaying amplitude—a long-range generalisation of the Su–Schrieffer–Heeger model. This is a system that preserves the number of particles. The entropy of each symmetry sector is calculated via the charged moments of the reduced density matrix. We exploit some recent results on block Toeplitz determinants generated by a discontinuous symbol to obtain analytically the asymptotic behaviour of the charged moments and of the symmetry-resolved entropies for a large subsystem. At leading order we find entanglement equipartition, but comparing with the short-range counterpart its breaking occurs at a different order and it does depend on the hopping amplitudes.

Negativity Hamiltonian: An Operator Characterization of Mixed-State Entanglement.

In the context of ground states of quantum many-body systems, the locality of entanglement between connected regions of space is directly tied to the locality of the corresponding entanglement Hamiltonian: the latter is dominated by local, few-body terms. In this work, we introduce the negativity Hamiltonian as the (non-Hermitian) effective Hamiltonian operator describing the logarithm of the partial transpose of a many-body system. This allows us to address the connection between entanglement and operator locality beyond the paradigm of bipartite pure systems. As a first step in this direction, we study the structure of the negativity Hamiltonian for fermionic conformal field theories and a free-fermion chain: in both cases, we show that the negativity Hamiltonian assumes a quasilocal functional form, that is captured by simple functional relations.

Unbounded entanglement production via a dissipative impurity

We investigate the entanglement dynamics in a free-fermion chain initially prepared in a Fermi sea and subjected to localized losses (dissipative impurity). We derive a formula describing the dynamics of the entanglement entropies in the hydrodynamic limit of long times and large intervals. The result depends only on the absorption coefficient of the effective delta potential describing the impurity in the hydrodynamic limit. Genuine dissipation-induced entanglement is certified by the linear growth of the logarithmic negativity. Finally, in the quantum Zeno regime at strong dissipation the entanglement growth is arrested (Zeno entanglement death).

Infinite randomness with continuously varying critical exponents in the random XYZ spin chain

We study the antiferromagnetic XYZ spin chain with quenched bond randomness, focusing on a critical line between localized Ising magnetic phases. A previous calculation using the spectrum-bifurcation renormalization group, and assuming marginal many-body localization, proposed that critical indices vary continuously. In this work we solve the low-energy physics using an unbiased numerically exact tensor network method named the "rigorous renormalization group." We find a line of fixed points consistent with infinite-randomness phenomenology, with indeed continuously varying critical exponents for average spin correlations. A self-consistent Hartree-Fock-type treatment of the $z$ couplings as interactions added to the free-fermion random XY model captures much of the important physics including the varying exponents; we provide an understanding of this as a result of local correlation induced between the mean-field couplings. We solve the problem of the locally-correlated XY spin chain with arbitrary degree of correlation and provide analytical strong-disorder renormalization group proofs of continuously varying exponents based on an associated classical random walk problem. This is also an example of a line of fixed points with continuously varying exponents in the equivalent disordered free-fermion chain. We argue that this line of fixed points also controls an extended region of the critical interacting XYZ spin chain.

Waiting time statistics in boundary-driven free fermion chains

We study the waiting-time distributions (WTDs) of quantum chains coupled to two Lindblad baths at each end. Our focus is on free fermion chains, where we derive closed-form expressions in terms of single-particle matrices, allowing one to study arbitrarily large chain sizes. In doing so, we also derive formulas for 2-point correlation functions involving non-Hermitian propagators.

Entanglement spreading after local and extended excitations in a free-fermion chain

We study the time evolution of entanglement created by local or extended excitations upon the ground state of a free-fermion chain. A single particle or hole excitation produces a single bit of excess entropy for large times and subsystem lengths. In case of a double hole, some of the coherence between the excitations is preserved and the excess entropy becomes additive only for large hole separations. In contrast, the coherence is always lost for particle–hole excitations. Multiple hole excitations on a completely filled chain are also investigated. We find that for an extended contiguous hole the excess entropy scales logarithmically with the size, whereas the increase is linear for finite separations between the holes.

Exact quench dynamics of symmetry resolved entanglement in a free fermion chain

The study of the entanglement dynamics plays a fundamental role in understanding the behaviour of many-body quantum systems out of equilibrium. In the presence of a globally conserved charge, further insights are provided by the knowledge of the resolution of entanglement in the various symmetry sectors. Here, we carry on the program we initiated in Parez et al (2021 Phys. Rev. B 103 L041104), for the study of the time evolution of the symmetry resolved entanglement in free fermion systems. We complete and extend our derivations also by defining and quantifying a symmetry resolved mutual information. The entanglement entropies display a time delay that depends on the charge sector that we characterise exactly. Both entanglement entropies and mutual information show effective equipartition in the scaling limit of large time and subsystem size. Furthermore, we argue that the behaviour of the charged entropies can be quantitatively understood in the framework of the quasiparticle picture for the spreading of entanglement, and hence we expect that a proper adaptation of our results should apply to a large class of integrable systems. We also find that the number entropy grows logarithmically with time before saturating to a value proportional to the logarithm of the subsystem size.

Entanglement Transition in a Monitored Free-Fermion Chain: From Extended Criticality to Area Law.

We analyze the quantum trajectory dynamics of free fermions subject to continuous monitoring. For weak monitoring, we identify a novel dynamical regime of subextensive entanglement growth, reminiscent of a critical phase with an emergent conformal invariance. For strong monitoring, however, the dynamics favors a transition into a quantum Zeno-like area-law regime. Close to the critical point, we observe logarithmic finite size corrections, indicating a Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless mechanism underlying the transition. This uncovers an unconventional entanglement transition in an elementary, physically realistic model for weak continuous measurements. In addition, we demonstrate that the measurement aspect in the dynamics is crucial for whether or not a phase transition takes place.

Quasiparticle dynamics of symmetry-resolved entanglement after a quench: Examples of conformal field theories and free fermions

The time evolution of the entanglement entropy is a key concept to understand the structure of a non-equilibrium quantum state. In a large class of models, such evolution can be understood in terms of a semiclassical picture of moving quasiparticles spreading the entanglement throughout the system. However, it is not yet known how the entanglement splits between the sectors of an internal local symmetry of a quantum many-body system. Here, guided by the examples of conformal field theories and free-fermion chains, we show that the quasiparticle picture can be adapted to this goal, leading to a general conjecture for the charged entropies whose Fourier transform gives the desired symmetry resolved entanglement $S_n(q)$. We point out two physically relevant effects that should be easily observed in atomic experiments: a delay time for the onset of $S_n(q)$ which grows linearly with $|\Delta q|$ (the difference from the charge $q$ and its mean value), and an effective equipartition when $|\Delta q|$ is much smaller than the subsystem size.

Boundary effects on symmetry resolved entanglement

We study the symmetry resolved entanglement entropies in one-dimensional systems with boundaries. We provide some general results for conformal invariant theories and then move to a semi-infinite chain of free fermions. We consider both an interval starting from the boundary and away from it. We derive exact formulas for the charged and symmetry resolved entropies based on theorems and conjectures about the spectra of Toeplitz+Hankel matrices. En route to characterise the interval away from the boundary, we prove a general relation between the eigenvalues of Toeplitz+Hankel matrices and block Toeplitz ones. An important aspect is that the saddle-point approximation from charged to symmetry resolved entropies introduces algebraic corrections to the scaling that are much more severe than in systems without boundaries.