Entanglement entropy and entanglement witnesses in models of strongly interacting low-dimensional fermions

Abstract

We calculate the entanglement entropy of strongly correlated low-dimensional fermions in metallic, superfluid and antiferromagnetic insulating phases. The entanglement entropy reflects the degrees of freedom available in each phase for storing and processing information, but is found not to be a state function in the thermodynamic sense. The role of critical points, smooth crossovers and Hilbert space restrictions in shaping the dependence of the entanglement entropy on the system parameters is illustrated for metallic, insulating and superfluid systems. The dependence of the spin susceptibility on entanglement in antiferromagnetic insulators is obtained quantitatively. The opening of spin gaps in antiferromagnetic insulators is associated with enhanced entanglement near quantum critical points.

5 pages, 5 figures, accepted by PRA