Information plays an important role in our understanding of the physical world. We hence propose an entropic measure of information for any physical theory that admits systems, states and measurements. In the quantum and classical world, our measure reduces to the von Neumann and Shannon entropy respectively. It can even be used in a quantum or classical setting where we are only allowed to perform a limited set of operations. In a world that admits superstrong correlations in the form of non-local boxes, our measure can be used to analyze protocols such as superstrong random access encodings and the violation of `information causality'. However, we also show that in such a world no entropic measure can exhibit all properties we commonly accept in a quantum setting. For example, there exists no`reasonable' measure of conditional entropy that is subadditive. Finally, we prove a coding theorem for some theories that is analogous to the quantum and classical setting, providing us with an appealing operational interpretation.
The thermodynamical entropy of a system which consists of different kinds of ideal gases is known to be defined successfully in the case when the differences are described by classical or quantum theory. Since these theories are special examples in the framework of generalized probabilistic theories (GPTs), it is natural to generalize the notion of thermodynamical entropy to systems where the internal degrees of particles are described by other possible theories. In this paper, we consider thermodynamical entropy of mixing in a specific series of theories of GPTs called the regular polygon the…
We discuss some features of thermodynamics in the presence of multiple conserved quantities. We prove a generalisation of Landauer principle illustrating tradeoffs between the erasure costs paid in different "currencies". We then show how the maximum entropy and complete passivity approaches give different answers in the presence of multiple observables. We discuss how this seems to prevent current resource theories from fully capturing thermodynamic aspects of non-commutativity.
We investigate the concept of entropy in probabilistic theories more general than quantum mechanics, with particular reference to the notion of information causality recently proposed by Pawlowski et. al. (arXiv:0905.2992). We consider two entropic quantities, which we term measurement and mixing entropy. In classical and quantum theory, they are equal, being given by the Shannon and von Neumann entropies respectively; in general, however, they are very different. In particular, while measurement entropy is easily seen to be concave, mixing entropy need not be. In fact, as we show, mixing entr…
We propose the study of quantum games from the point of view of quantum information theory and statistical mechanics. Every game can be described by a density operator, the von Neumann entropy and the quantum replicator dynamics. There exists a strong relationship between game theories, information theories and statistical physics. The density operator and entropy are the bonds between these theories. The analysis we propose is based on the properties of entropy, the amount of information that a player can obtain about his opponent and a maximum or minimum entropy criterion. The natural trend …
Pseudo entropy is an interesting quantity with a simple gravity dual, which generalizes entanglement entropy such that it depends on both an initial and a final state. Here we reveal the basic properties of pseudo entropy in quantum field theories by numerically calculating this quantity for a set of two-dimensional free scalar field theories and the Ising spin chain. We extend the Gaussian method for pseudo entropy in free scalar theories with two parameters: mass $m$ and dynamical exponent $z$. This computation finds two novel properties of Pseudo entropy which we conjecture to be universal …
In this paper we calculate the entanglement entropy of two coupled gapless systems in general spatial dimension d. The gapless systems can be either conformal field theories (CFT), or Fermi liquids. We assume the two systems are coupled uniformly in a h-dimensional submanifold of the space, with 0 <= h <= d. We will focus on the scaling of the entanglement entropy with the size of the system, and its scaling with the inter-system coupling constant g. Three approaches will be used for our calculation: (1) exact calculation with ground state wave-functional, (2) perturbative calculation with fun…
We focus on the issue of proper definition of entanglement entropy in lattice gauge theories, and examine a naive definition where gauge invariant states are viewed as elements of an extended Hilbert space which contains gauge non-invariant states as well. Working in the extended Hilbert space, we can define entanglement entropy associated with an arbitrary subset of links, not only for abelian but also for non-abelian theories. We then derive the associated replica formula. We also discuss the issue of gauge invariance of the entanglement entropy. In the $Z_N$ gauge theories in arbitrary spac…
We calculate entanglement entropy in a non-relativistic field theory described by the Schrödinger operator. We demonstrate that the entropy is characterized by i) the area law and ii) UV divergences that are identical to those in the relativistic field theory. These observations are further supported by a holographic consideration. We use the non-relativistic symmetry and completely specify entanglement entropy in large class of non-relativistic theories described by the field operators polynomial in derivatives. We suggest that the area law of the entropy can be tested in experiments with con…
We discuss and compute entanglement entropy (EE) in (1+1)-dimensional free Lifshitz scalar field theories with arbitrary dynamical exponents. We consider both the subinterval and periodic sublattices in the discretized theory as subsystems. In both cases, we are able to analytically demonstrate that the EE grows linearly as a function of the dynamical exponent. Furthermore, for the subinterval case, we determine that as the dynamical exponent increases, there is a crossover from an area law to a volume law. Lastly, we deform Lifshitz field theories with certain relevant operators and show that…
We compute holographic entanglement entropy in two strongly coupled nonlocal field theories: the dipole and the noncommutative deformations of SYM theory. We find that entanglement entropy in the dipole theory follows a volume law for regions smaller than the length scale of nonlocality and has a smooth cross-over to an area law for larger regions. In contrast, in the noncommutative theory the entanglement entropy follows a volume law for up to a critical length scale at which a phase transition to an area law occurs. The critical length scale increases as the UV cutoff is raised, which is ind…
We derive exact formulas for bipartite von Neumann entanglement entropy after partial projective local measurement in $1+1$ dimensional conformal field theories with periodic and open boundary conditions. After defining the set up we will check numerically the validity of our results in the case of Klein-Gordon field theory (coupled harmonic oscillators) and spin-$1/2$ XX chain in a magnetic field. The agreement between analytical results and the numerical calculations is very good. We also find a lower bound for localizable entanglement in coupled harmonic oscillators.
The classical thermostatics of equilibrium processes is shown to possess a quantum-mechanical dual theory with a finite-dimensional Hilbert space of quantum states. Specifically, the kernel of a certain Hamiltonian operator becomes the Hilbert space of quasistatic quantum mechanics. The relation of thermostatics to topological field theory is also discussed in the context of the emergent approach to quantum theory, where the concept of entropy plays a key role.
We propose a definition for the entanglement entropy of a gauge theory on a spatial lattice. Our definition applies to any subset of links in the lattice, and is valid for both Abelian and Non-Abelian gauge theories. For $\mathbb{Z}_N$ and $U(1)$ theories, without matter, our definition agrees with a particular case of the definition given by Casini, Huerta and Rosabal. We also argue that in general, both for Abelian and Non-Abelian theories, our definition agrees with the entanglement entropy calculated using a definition of the replica trick. Our definition, however, does not agree with some…
An upper bound of the relative entanglement entropy of thermal states at an inverse temperature $β$ of linear, massive Klein-Gordon and Dirac quantum field theories across two regions, separated by a nonzero distance $d$ in a Cauchy hypersurface of an ultrastatic (spin-)spacetime has been computed. This entanglement measure is bounded by a negative constant times $\ln | \tanh (πd/ 2 β) |$ which signifies power law decay for asymptotic $d$ where the exponent depends on $β< \infty$.
We develop a framework for studying the well-known universal term in the Renyi entropy for an arbitrary entangling region in four-dimensional conformal field theories that are holographically dual to gravitational theories. The shape dependence of the Renyi entropy $S_n$ is described by two coefficients: $f_b(n)$ for traceless extrinsic curvature deformations and $f_c(n)$ for Weyl tensor deformations. We provide the first calculation of the coefficient $f_b(n)$ in interacting theories by relating it to the stress tensor one-point function in a deformed hyperboloid background. The latter is the…
We calculate analytically the Rényi bipartite entanglement entropy $S_α$ of the ground state of $1+1$ dimensional conformal field theories (CFT) after performing a projective measurement in a part of the system. We show that the entanglement entropy in this setup is dependent on the central charge and the operator content of the system. When the measurement region $A$ separates the two parts $B$ and $\bar{B}$, the entanglement entropy between $B$ and $\bar{B}$ decreases like a power-law with respect to the characteristic distance between the two regions with an exponent which is dependent on t…
We present a simple derivation of the entanglement entropy for a region made up of a union of disjoint intervals in 1+1 dimensional quantum field theories using holographic techniques. This generalizes the results for 1+1 dimensional conformal field theories derived previously by exploiting the uniformization map. We further comment on the generalization of our result to higher dimensional field theories.
We revisit the issue of defining the entropy of a spatial region in a broad class of quantum theories. In theories with explicit regularizations, working within an elementary but general algebraic framework applicable to matter and gauge theories alike, we give precise path integral expressions for three known types of entanglement entropy that we call full, distillable, and gauge-invariant. For a class of gauge theories that do not necessarily have a regularization in our framework, including Chern-Simons theory, we describe a related approach to defining entropies based on locally extending …
In this article, we explore properties of pseudo entropy [1] in quantum field theories and spin systems from several approaches. Pseudo entropy is a generalization of entanglement entropy such that it depends on both an initial and final state and has a clear gravity dual via the AdS/CFT. We numerically analyze a class of free scalar field theories and the XY spin model. This reveals the basic properties of pseudo entropy in many-body systems, namely, the area law behavior, the saturation behavior, and the non-positivity of difference between the pseudo entropy and averaged entanglement entrop…
We study holographic entanglement entropy of non-local field theories both at extremality and finite temperature. The gravity duals, constructed in arXiv:1208.3469 [hep-th], are characterized by a parameter $w$. Both the zero temperature backgrounds and the finite temperature counterparts are exact solutions of Einstein-Maxwell-dilaton theory. For the extremal case we consider the examples with the entangling regions being a strip and a sphere. We find that the leading order behavior of the entanglement entropy always exhibits a volume law when the size of the entangling region is sufficiently…
We investigate the leading area-law contribution to entanglement entropy in a system described by a general Lagrangian with O(2) symmetry containing first- and second-order time derivatives, namely breaking the Lorentz-invariance. We establish a connection between the Higgs gap present in a symmetry-broken phase and the area-law term for the entanglement entropy in the general, non-relativistic case. Our predictions for the entanglement entropy and correlation length are successfully compared to numerical results in two paradigmatic systems: the Mott insulator to superfluid transition for ultr…
In this note we lay some groundwork for the resource theory of thermodynamics in general probabilistic theories (GPTs). We consider theories satisfying a purely convex abstraction of the spectral decomposition of density matrices: that every state has a decomposition, with unique probabilities, into perfectly distinguishable pure states. The spectral entropy, and analogues using other Schur-concave functions, can be defined as the entropy of these probabilities. We describe additional conditions under which the outcome probabilities of a fine-grained measurement are majorized by those for a sp…
We study the dynamics of entanglement entropy for weakly excited states in conformal field theories by using the AdS/CFT. This is aimed at a first step to find a counterpart of Einstein equation in the CFT language. In particular, we point out that the entanglement entropy satisfies differential equations which directly correspond to the Einstein equation in several setups of AdS/CFT. We also define a quantity called entanglement density in higher dimensional field theories and study its dynamical property for weakly excited states in conformal field theories.
We consider single interval Rényi and entanglement entropies for a two dimensional conformal field theory on a circle at nonzero temperature. Assuming that the finite size of the system introduces a unique ground state with a nonzero mass gap, we calculate the leading corrections to the Rényi and entanglement entropy in a low temperature expansion. These corrections have a universal form for any two dimensional conformal field theory that depends only on the size of the mass gap and its degeneracy. We analyze the limits where the size of the interval becomes small and where it becomes close to…
We consider entanglement entropy of a cap-like region for a conformal field theory living on a sphere times a circle in d space-time dimensions. Assuming that the finite size of the system introduces a unique ground state with a nonzero mass gap, we calculate the leading correction to the entanglement entropy in a low temperature expansion. The correction has a universal form for any conformal field theory that depends only on the size of the mass gap, its degeneracy, and the angular size of the cap. We confirm our result by calculating the entanglement entropy of a conformally coupled scalar …
Three-dimensional conformal field theories (CFTs) of deconfined gauge fields coupled to gapless flavors of fermionic and bosonic matter describe quantum critical points of condensed matter systems in two spatial dimensions. An important characteristic of these CFTs is the finite part of the entanglement entropy across a circle. The negative of this quantity is equal to the finite part of the free energy of the Euclidean CFT on the three-sphere, and it has been proposed to satisfy the so called F-theorem, which states that it decreases under RG flow and is stationary at RG fixed points. We calc…
We propose a closed formula of the universal part of supersymmetric Rényi entropy $S_q$ for $(2,0)$ superconformal theories in six-dimensions. We show that $S_q$ across a spherical entangling surface is a cubic polynomial of $γ:=1/q$, with all coefficients expressed in terms of the newly discovered Weyl anomalies $a$ and $c$. This is equivalent to a similar statement of the supersymmetric free energy on conic (or squashed) six-sphere. We first obtain the closed formula by promoting the free tensor multiplet result and then provide an independent derivation by assuming that $S_q$ can be written…
A definition for the entanglement entropy in a gauge theory was given recently in arXiv:1501.02593. Working on a spatial lattice, it involves embedding the physical state in an extended Hilbert space obtained by taking the tensor product of the Hilbert space of states on each link of the lattice. This extended Hilbert space admits a tensor product decomposition by definition and allows a density matrix and entanglement entropy for the set of links of interest to be defined. Here, we continue the study of this extended Hilbert space definition with particular emphasis on the case of Non-Abelian…
We study the scaling of the Renyi entanglement entropy of two disjoint blocks of critical lattice models described by conformal field theories with central charge c=1. We provide the analytic conformal field theory result for the second order Renyi entropy for a free boson compactified on an orbifold describing the scaling limit of the Ashkin-Teller (AT) model on the self-dual line. We have checked this prediction in cluster Monte Carlo simulations of the classical two dimensional AT model. We have also performed extensive numerical simulations of the anisotropic Heisenberg quantum spin-chain …
This thesis investigates the connection between quantum theory, thermodynamics and information theory. Theories with structure similar to that of quantum theory are considered, mathematically described by the framework of "Generalized Probabilistic Theories". For these theories, a thought experiment by von Neumann is adapted to obtain a natural thermodynamic entropy definition, following a proposal by J. Barrett. Mathematical properties of this entropy are compared to physical consequences of the thought experiment. The validity of the second law of thermodynamics is investigated. In that cont…
We study the dynamics of (Rényi) mutual information, logarithmic negativity, and (Rényi) reflected entropy after exciting the ground state by a local operator. Together with recent results from Ref. [1], we are able to conjecture a close-knit structure between the three quantities that emerges in states excited above the vacuum, including both local and global quantum quenches. This structure intimately depends on the chaoticity of the theory i.e. there exist distinct sets of equivalences for integrable and chaotic theories. For rational conformal field theories (RCFT), we find all quantities …
We propose a method of computing and studying entanglement quantities in non-Hermitian systems by use of a biorthogonal basis. We find that the entanglement spectrum characterizes the topological properties in terms of the existence of mid-gap states in the non-Hermitian Su-Schrieffer-Heeger (SSH) model with parity and time-reversal symmetry (PT symmetry) and the non-Hermitian Chern insulators. In addition, we find that at a critical point in the PT symmetric SSH model, the entanglement entropy has a logarithmic scaling with corresponding central charge $c=-2$. This critical point then is a fr…
General probabilistic theories are designed to provide operationally the most general probabilistic models including both classical and quantum theories. In this letter, we introduce a systematic method to construct a series of entropies, all of which generalize Shannon entropy in classical system and von Neumann entropy in quantum system. Using these entropies, the Holevo bound, an upper bound of the accessible information from a quantum system, is generalized to hold in any general probabilistic theory.
This is an extended version of our short report hep-th/0603001, where a holographic interpretation of entanglement entropy in conformal field theories is proposed from AdS/CFT correspondence. In addition to a concise review of relevant recent progresses of entanglement entropy and details omitted in the earlier letter, this paper includes the following several new results : We give a more direct derivation of our claim which relates the entanglement entropy with the minimal area surfaces in the AdS_3/CFT_2 case as well as some further discussions on higher dimensional cases. Also the relation …
Radical-ion-pair reactions were recently shown to manifest a host of non-trivial quantum effects accounted for by quantum measurement theory. An alternative approach purporting to describe the fundamental quantum dynamics of spin-selective radical-ion pair reactions was introduced most recently, bringing to three the competing theories, including the one traditionally used in spin chemistry. We here consider entropy as a fundamental concept enabling a comparison of the predictions of these theories against what is physically acceptable on quite general grounds.
A definition for the entanglement entropy in both Abelian and non-Abelian gauge theories has been given in the literature, based on an extended Hilbert space construction. The result can be expressed as a sum of two terms, a classical term and a quantum term. It has been argued that only the quantum term is extractable through the processes of quantum distillation and dilution. Here we consider gauge theories in the continuum limit and argue that quite generically, the classical piece is dominated by modes with very high momentum, of order the cut-off, in the direction normal to the entangling…
A holographic derivation of the entanglement entropy in quantum (conformal) field theories is proposed from AdS/CFT correspondence. We argue that the entanglement entropy in d+1 dimensional conformal field theories can be obtained from the area of d dimensional minimal surfaces in AdS_{d+2}, analogous to the Bekenstein-Hawking formula for black hole entropy. We show that our proposal perfectly reproduces the correct entanglement entropy in 2D CFT when applied to AdS_3. We also compare the entropy computed in AdS_5 \times S^5 with that of the free N=4 super Yang-Mills.
We investigate the structure of the three-qubit magic Veldkamp line (MVL). This mathematical notion has recently shown up as a tool for understanding the structures of the set of Mermin pentagrams, objects that are used to rule out certain classes of hidden variable theories. Here we show that this object also provides a unifying finite geometric underpinning for understanding the structure of functionals used in form theories of gravity and black hole entropy. We clarify the representation theoretic, finite geometric and physical meaning of the different parts of our MVL. The upshot of our co…
