Viktor Eisler

A bstract: We investigate the dynamics of the entanglement Hamiltonian in a system of one-dimensional free fermions, following a local joining quench of two initially disconnected half-chains in their ground states. Applying techniques of conformal field theory, we obtain a local expression where the left- and right-moving components of the energy density are associated with different weight functions. The results are then compared to numerical calculations for the hopping chain, which requires to consider a proper continuum limit of the lattice entanglement Hamiltonian, obtaining a good agreement with the field-theory prediction.

We provide an exact analytical solution of the single-particle Schrödinger equation for a chain of non-interacting fermions subject to a time-dependent linear potential, with its slope varied as an arbitrary function of time. The resulting dynamics exhibit self-similar behavior, with a structure reminiscent of the domain wall melting problem, albeit characterized by a nontrivial time-dependent length scale and phase. Building on this solution, we derive hydrodynamic predictions for the evolution of particle density, current, and entanglement entropy along the chain. In the special case of a sudden quench, the system develops a breathing interface region, which may be interpreted as a realization of Wannier-Stark localization, as previously suggested on the basis of hydrodynamic arguments.

We study the melting of a domain wall in free-fermion chains, where the periodic variation of the hopping amplitudes gives rise to a band structure. It is shown that the entanglement grows logarithmically in time, and the prefactor is proportional to the number of filled bands in the initial state. For a dimerized chain the particle density and current are found to have the same expressions as in the homogeneous case, up to a rescaling of the velocity. The universal contribution to the entropy profile is then doubled, while the non-universal part can be extracted numerically from block-Toeplitz matrices.

We study the entanglement Hamiltonian for the ground state of one-dimensional free fermions in the presence of an inhomogeneous chemical potential. In particular, we consider a lattice with a linear, as well as a continuum system with a quadratic potential. It is shown that, for both models, conformal field theory predicts a Bisognano–Wichmann form for the entanglement Hamiltonian of a half-infinite system. Furthermore, despite being nonrelativistic, this result is inherited by our models in the form of operators that commute exactly with the entanglement Hamiltonian. After appropriate rescaling, they also yield an excellent approximation of the entanglement spectra, which becomes asymptotically exact in the bulk of the trapped Fermi gas. For the gradient chain, however, the conformal result is recovered only after taking a proper continuum limit.

We study the entanglement Hamiltonian for a spherical domain in the ground state of a nonrelativistic free-fermion gas in arbitrary dimensions. Decomposed into a set of radial entanglement Hamiltonians, we show that the entanglement spectrum in each sector is identical to that of a hopping chain in a linear potential, with the angular momentum playing the role of the subsystem boundary. Furthermore, the eigenfunctions follow from a commuting differential operator that has exactly the form predicted by conformal field theory. Rescaled by the radial Fermi velocity, this operator gives a perfect approximation of the entanglement Hamiltonian, except for large angular momenta that belong to the edge regime in the analogous gradient chain. One thus finds that the conformal field theory result becomes asymptotically exact only in one dimension.

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.

We study the spreading of entanglement produced by the time evolution of a local fermionic excitation created above the ground state of the XXZ chain. The resulting entropy profiles are investigated via density-matrix renormalization group calculations, and compared to a quasiparticle ansatz. In particular, we assume that the entanglement is dominantly carried by spinon excitations traveling at different velocities, and the entropy profile is reproduced by a probabilistic expression involving the density fraction of the spinons reaching the subsystem. The ansatz works well in the gapless phase for moderate values of the XXZ anisotropy, eventually deteriorating as other types of quasiparticle excitations gain spectral weight. Furthermore, if the initial state is excited by a local Majorana fermion, we observe a nontrivial rescaling of the entropy profiles. This effect is further investigated in a conformal field theory framework, carrying out calculations for the Luttinger liquid theory. Finally, we also consider excitations creating an antiferromagnetic domain wall in the gapped phase of the chain, and find again a modified quasiparticle ansatz with a multiplicative factor.