Scaling of the formation probabilities and universal boundary entropies in the quantum XY spin chain. (25th August 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Ares, F; Rajabpour, M A; Viti, J
• Is Part Of: Journal of statistical mechanics. (2020:Aug.)
• Publication Date: 2020-08-25
• Subjects: conformal field theory -- integrable spin chains and vertex models; Statistical mechanics -- Periodicals; Mechanics -- Statistical methods -- Periodicals; 530.1305
• DOI: 10.1088/1742-5468/aba9d4
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1742-5468

Abstract

Abstract: We calculate exactly the probability to find the ground state of the XY chain in a given spin configuration in the transverse σ z -basis. By determining finite-volume corrections to the probabilities for a wide variety of configurations, we obtain the universal boundary entropy at the critical point. The latter is a benchmark of the underlying boundary conformal field theory characterizing each quantum state. To determine the scaling of the probabilities, we prove a theorem that expresses, in a factorized form, the eigenvalues of a sub-matrix of a circulant matrix as functions of the eigenvalues of the original matrix. Finally, the boundary entropies are computed by exploiting a generalization of the Euler–MacLaurin formula to non-differentiable functions. It is shown that, in some cases, the spin configuration can flow to a linear superposition of Cardy states. Our methods and tools are rather generic and can be applied to all the periodic quantum chains which map to free-fermionic Hamiltonians.