Some Calculable Contributions to Entanglement Entropy

Abstract

Entanglement entropy appears as a central property of quantum systems in broad areas of physics. However, its precise value is often sensitive to unknown microphysics, rendering it incalculable. By considering parametric dependence on correlation length, we extract finite, calculable contributions to the entanglement entropy for a scalar field between the interior and exterior of a spatial domain of arbitrary shape. The leading term is proportional to the area of the dividing boundary; we also extract finite subleading contributions for a field defined in the bulk interior of a waveguide in 3+1 dimensions, including terms proportional to the waveguide's cross-sectional geometry; its area, perimeter length, and integrated curvature. We also consider related quantities at criticality and suggest a class of systems for which these contributions might be measurable.

4+ pages, 1 figure. v2: Some clarifications and more references; updated to resemble version published in PRL

References in corpus (5)

• Entanglement entropy of fermions in any dimension and the Widom conjecture
• Quantum Noise as an Entanglement Meter
• Universal terms for the entanglement entropy in 2+1 dimensions
• Casimir Forces in a Piston Geometry at Zero and Finite Temperatures
• Entanglement Entropy in Critical Phenomena and Analogue Models of Quantum Gravity

Cited by in corpus (3)

• Weaker entanglement guarantees stronger entanglement
• Entanglement entropy for odd spheres
• Finite entanglement entropy from the zero-point-area of spacetime