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The staircase model is a simple generalization of the sinh-Gordon model, obtained by complexifying the coupling constant. This produces a new theory with many interesting features. Chief among them is the fact that scaling functions such as Zamolodchikov's $c$-function display "roaming" behaviour, that is, they visit the vicinity of an infinite number of conformal fixed points, the unitary minimal models of conformal field theory. This rich structure also makes the model an interesting candidate for study using the generalized hydrodynamic approach to integrable quantum field theory (IQFT). By studying hydrodynamic quantities such as the effective velocities of quasiparticles we can develop a more physical picture of interaction in the theory, both at and away from equilibrium. Indeed, we find that in the staircase model the effective velocity displays monotonicity features not found in any other IQFT. These admit a natural interpretation when investigated in the context of the massless theories known as $\mathcal{M}A_k^{(+)}$ models, which provide an effective description of massless flows between consecutive unitary minimal models. Remarkably, we find that the effective velocity in the staircase model can be reconstructed by a "cut and paste" procedure involving the equivalent functions associated to the massless excitations of suitable $\mathcal{M}A_k^{(+)}$ models. We also investigate the average currents and densities of higher spin conserved quantities in the partitioning protocol., Comment: 33 pages, 26 figures

The generalized hydrodynamic (GHD) approach has been extremely successful in describing the out-of-equilibrium properties of a great variety of integrable many-body quantum systems. It naturally extracts the large-scale dynamical degrees of freedom of the system, and is thus a particularly good probe for emergent phenomena. One such phenomenon is the presence of unstable particles, traditionally seen via special analytic structures of the scattering matrix. Because of their finite lifetime and energy threshold, these are especially hard to study. In this paper we apply the GHD approach to a model possessing both unstable excitations and quantum integrability. The largest family of relativistic integrable quantum field theories known to have these features are the homogeneous sine-Gordon models. We consider the simplest non-trivial example of such theories and investigate the effect of an unstable excitation on various physical quantities, both at equilibrium and in the non-equilibrium state arising from the partitioning protocol. The hydrodynamic approach sheds new light onto the physics of the unstable particle, going much beyond its definition via the analytic structure of the scattering matrix, and clarifies its effects both on the equilibrium and out-of-equilibrium properties of the theory. Crucially, within this dynamical perspective, we identify unstable particles as finitely-lived bound states of co-propagating stable particles of different types, and observe how stable populations of unstable particles emerge in large-temperature thermal baths., Comment: 36 pages, 32 figures, 2 tables

We show irreversibility of the renormalization group flow in non-unitary but ${\cal PT}$-invariant quantum field theory in two space-time dimensions. In addition to unbroken $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetry and a positive energy spectrum, we assume standard properties of quantum field theory including a local energy-momentum tensor and relativistic invariance. This generalizes Zamolodchikov's $c$-theorem to ${\cal PT}$-symmetric hamiltonians. Our proof follows closely Zamolodchikov's arguments. We show that a function $c_{\mathrm{eff}}(s)$ of the renormalization group parameter $s$ exists which is non-negative and monotonically decreasing along renormalization group flows. Its value at a critical point is the "effective central charge" entering the specific free energy. At least in rational models, this equals $c_{\mathrm{eff}}=c-24\Delta$, where $c$ is the central charge and $\Delta$ is the lowest primary field dimension in the conformal field theory which describes the critical point., Comment: 26 pages, 1 figure

Using a Corner Transfer Matrix approach, we compute the bipartite entanglement R\'enyi entropy in the off-critical perturbations of non-unitary conformal minimal models realised by lattice spin chains Hamiltonians related to the Forrester Baxter RSOS models in regime III. This allows to show on a set of explicit examples that the R\'enyi entropies for non-unitary theories rescale near criticality as the logarithm of the correlation length with a coefficient proportional to the effective central charge. This complements a similar result, recently established for the size rescaling at the critical point, showing the expected agreement of the two behaviours. We also compute the first subleading unusual correction to the scaling behaviour, showing that it is expressible in terms of expansions of various fractional powers of the correlation length, related to the differences $\Delta-\Delta_{\min}$ between the conformal dimensions of fields in the theory and the minimal conformal dimension. Finally, a few observations on the limit leading to the off-critical logarithmic minimal models of Pearce and Seaton are put forward., Comment: 24 pages, 2 figures

We consider the $\varphi_{1,3}$ off-critical perturbation ${\cal M}(m,m';t)$ of the general non-unitary minimal models where $2\le m\le m'$ and $m, m'$ are coprime and $t$ measures the departure from criticality corresponding to the $\varphi_{1,3}$ integrable perturbation. We view these models as the continuum scaling limit in the ferromagnetic Regime III of the Forrester-Baxter Restricted Solid-On-Solid (RSOS) models on the square lattice. We also consider the RSOS models in the antiferromagnetic Regime II related in the continuum scaling limit to $\mathbb{Z}_n$ parfermions with $n=m'-2$. Using an elliptic Yang-Baxter algebra of planar tiles encoding the allowed face configurations, we obtain the Hamiltonians of the associated quantum chains defined as the logarithmic derivative of the transfer matrices with periodic boundary conditions. The transfer matrices and Hamiltonians act on a vector space of paths on the $A_{m'-1}$ Dynkin diagram whose dimension is counted by generalized Fibonacci numbers., Comment: 18 pages

In this letter we show that the R\'enyi entanglement entropy of a region of large size $\ell$ in a one-dimensional critical model whose ground state breaks conformal invariance (such as in those described by non-unitary conformal field theories), behaves as $S_n \sim \frac{c_{\mathrm{eff}}(n+1)}{6n} \log \ell$, where $c_{\mathrm{eff}}=c-24\Delta>0$ is the effective central charge, $c$ (which may be negative) is the central charge of the conformal field theory and $\Delta\neq 0$ is the lowest holomorphic conformal dimension in the theory. We also obtain results for models with boundaries, and with a large but finite correlation length, and we show that if the lowest conformal eigenspace is logarithmic ($L_0 = \Delta I + N$ with $N$ nilpotent), then there is an additional term proportional to $\log(\log \ell)$. These results generalize the well known expressions for unitary models. We provide a general proof, and report on numerical evidence for a non-unitary spin chain and an analytical computation using the corner transfer matrix method for a non-unitary lattice model. We use a new algebraic technique for studying the branching that arises within the replica approach, and find a new expression for the entanglement entropy in terms of correlation functions of twist fields for non-unitary models., Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures. Revised version including new derivation of the EE of logarithmic CFT. To appear in J. Phys. A. (fast track communications)

We show that the elliptic parametrization of the coupling constants of the quantum XYZ spin chain can be analytically extended outside of their natural domain, to cover the whole phase diagram of the model, which is composed of 12 adjacent regions, related to one another by a spin rotation. This extension is based on the modular properties of the elliptic functions and we show how rotations in parameter space correspond to the double covering PGL(2,Z)of the modular group, implying that the partition function of the XYZ chain is invariant under this group in parameter space, in the same way as a Conformal Field Theory partition function is invariant under the modular group acting in real space. The encoding of the symmetries of the model into the modular properties of the partition function could shed light on the general structure of integrable models., Comment: 17 pages, 4 figures, 1 table. Accepted published version

We study analytically the corrections to the leading terms in the Renyi entropy of a massive lattice theory, showing significant deviations from naive expectations. In particular, we show that finite size and finite mass effects give rise to different contributions (with different exponents) and thus violate a simple scaling argument. In the specific, we look at the entanglement entropy of a bipartite XYZ spin-1/2 chain in its ground state. When the system is divided into two semi-infinite half-chains, we have an analytical expression of the Renyi entropy as a function of a single mass parameter. In the scaling limit, we show that the entropy as a function of the correlation length formally coincides with that of a bulk Ising model. This should be compared with the fact that, at criticality, the model is described by a c=1 Conformal Field Theory and the corrections to the entropy due to finite size effects show exponents depending on the compactification radius of the theory. We will argue that there is no contradiction between these statements. If the lattice spacing is retained finite, the relation between the mass parameter and the correlation length generates new subleading terms in the entropy, whose form is path-dependent in phase-space and whose interpretation within a field theory is not available yet. These contributions arise as a consequence of the existence of stable bound states and are thus a distinctive feature of truly interacting theories, such as the XYZ chain., Comment: 11 pages, 4 figures; Updated published version, with revised introduction

We study the Renyi entropy of the one-dimensional XYZ spin-1/2 chain in the entirety of its phase diagram. The model has several quantum critical lines corresponding to rotated XXZ chains in their paramagnetic phase, and four tri-critical points where these phases join. Two of these points are described by a conformal field theory and close to them the entropy scales as the logarithm of its mass gap. The other two points are not conformal and the entropy has a peculiar singular behavior in their neighbors, characteristic of an essential singularity. At these non-conformal points the model undergoes a discontinuous transition, with a level crossing in the ground state and a quadratic excitation spectrum. We propose the entropy as an efficient tool to determine the discontinuous or continuous nature of a phase transition also in more complicated models., Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures

We obtain the exact expression for the Von Neumann entropy for an infinite bipartition of the XYZ model, by connecting its reduced density matrix to the corner transfer matrix of the eight vertex model. Then we consider the anisotropic scaling limit of the XYZ chain that yields the 1+1 dimensional sine-Gordon model. We present the formula for the entanglement entropy of the latter, which has the structure of a dominant logarithmic term plus a constant, in agreement with what is generally expected for a massive quantum field theory., Comment: 13 pages, 1 figure - v2: typos corrected - v3: some references and comments of sine-Gordon result added - v4: typos corrected