Entanglement growth after inhomogenous quenches

Tibor Rakovszky, C. W. von Keyserlingk, and Frank Pollmann
Phys. Rev. B 100, 125139 – Published 18 September 2019

Abstract

We study the growth of entanglement in quantum systems with a conserved quantity exhibiting diffusive transport, focusing on how initial inhomogeneities are imprinted on the entropy. We propose a simple effective model, which generalizes the minimal cut picture of Jonay, Huse, and Nahum [arXiv:1803.00089] in such a way that the “line tension” of the cut depends on the local entropy density. In the case of noisy dynamics, this is described by the Kardar-Parisi-Zhang (KPZ) equation coupled to a diffusing field. We investigate the resulting dynamics and find that initial inhomogeneities of the conserved charge give rise to features in the entanglement profile, whose width and height both grow in time as t. In particular, for a domain wall quench, diffusion restricts entanglement growth to be SvNt. We find that for charge density wave initial states, these features in the entanglement profile are present even after the charge density has equilibrated. Our conclusions are supported by numerical results on random circuits and deterministic spin chains.

  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Figure
4 More
  • Received 26 July 2019
  • Revised 6 September 2019

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.100.125139

©2019 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Condensed Matter, Materials & Applied PhysicsQuantum Information, Science & TechnologyStatistical Physics & Thermodynamics

Authors & Affiliations

Tibor Rakovszky1, C. W. von Keyserlingk2, and Frank Pollmann1,3

  • 1Department of Physics, T42, Technische Universität München, James-Franck-Straße 1, D-85748 Garching, Germany
  • 2University of Birmingham, School of Physics & Astronomy, B15 2TT, United Kingdom
  • 3Munich Center for Quantum Science and Technology (MCQST), Schellingstr. 4, D-80799 München, Germany

Article Text (Subscription Required)

Click to Expand

References (Subscription Required)

Click to Expand
Issue

Vol. 100, Iss. 12 — 15 September 2019

Reuse & Permissions
Access Options
CHORUS

Article Available via CHORUS

Download Accepted Manuscript
Author publication services for translation and copyediting assistance advertisement

Authorization Required


×
×

Images

×

Sign up to receive regular email alerts from Physical Review B

Log In

Cancel
×

Search


Article Lookup

Paste a citation or DOI

Enter a citation
×