Fidelity and entanglement close to quantum phase transition in a two-leg $XXZ$ spin ladder

Abstract

The fidelity susceptibility and entanglement entropy in a system of two-leg $XXZ$ spin ladder with rung coupling is investigated by using exact diagonalization of the system. The effects of rung coupling on fidelity susceptibility, entanglement entropy and quantum phase transition are analyzed. It is found that the quantum phase transition between two different $XY$ phases can be well characterized by the fidelity susceptibility. Though the quantum phase transition from $XY$ phase to rung singlet phase can be hardly detected by fidelity susceptibility, it can be predicted by the first derivative of the entanglement entropy of the system.

12 pages, 4 figures