Lifshitz entanglement entropy from holographic cMERA

Abstract

We study entanglement entropy in free Lifshitz scalar field theories holographically by employing the metrics proposed by Nozaki, Ryu and Takayanagi in \cite{Nozaki:2012zj} obtained from a continuous multi-scale entanglement renormalisation ansatz (cMERA). In these geometries we compute the minimal surface areas governing the entanglement entropy as functions of the dynamical exponent $z$ and we exhibit a transition from an area law to a volume law analytically in the limit of large $z$. We move on to explore the effects of a massive deformation, obtaining results for any $z$ in arbitrary dimension. We then trigger a renormalisation group flow between a Lifshitz theory and a conformal theory and observe a monotonic decrease in entanglement entropy along this flow. We focus on strip regions but also consider a disc in the undeformed theory.

17 pages, v2: references added and improved discussions, v3: published version