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Bipartite entanglement entropy is one of the most useful characterizations of universal properties in a many-body quantum system. Far from equilibrium, there exist two highly effective theories describing its dynamics -- the quasiparticle and membrane pictures. In this work we investigate entanglement dynamics, and these two complementary approaches, in a quantum circuit model perturbed by an impurity. In particular, we consider a dual unitary quantum circuit containing a spatially fixed, non-dual-unitary impurity gate, allowing for differing local Hilbert space dimensions to either side. We compute the entanglement entropy for both a semi-infinite and a finite subsystem within a finite distance of the impurity, comparing exact results to predictions of the effective theories. We find that for a semi-infinite subsystem, both theories agree with each other and the exact calculation. For a finite subsystem, however, both theories qualitatively differ, with the quasiparticle picture predicting a non-monotonic growth in contrast to the membrane picture. We show that such non-monotonic behavior can arise even in random chaotic circuits, pointing to a hitherto unknown shortcoming of the membrane picture in describing such systems., Comment: 5+7 pages, 2+1 figures. v2: Added a section to the Supplemental Material, updated acknowledgments; 5+9 pages, 2+3 figures

Thermal equilibrium states of local quantum many-body systems are notorious for their spatially decaying correlations, which place severe restrictions on the types of many-body entanglement structures that may be observed at finite temperatures. These restrictions may however be defied when an out-of-equilibrium steady state is considered instead. In this paper, we study the entanglement properties of free fermions on a one-dimensional lattice that contains a generic charge- and energy-conserving noninteracting impurity, and that is connected at its edges to two reservoirs with different equilibrium energy distributions. These distributions may differ in either temperature, chemical potential, or both, thereby inducing an external bias. We analytically derive exact asymptotic expressions for several quantum information measures -- the mutual information, its R\'enyi generalizations, and the fermionic negativity -- that quantify the correlation and entanglement between two subsystems located on opposite sides of the impurity. We show that all these measures scale (to a leading order) linearly with the overlap between one subsystem and the mirror image of the other (upon reflection of the latter about the impurity), independently of the distance between the subsystems. While a simple proportionality relation between the negativity and R\'enyi versions of the mutual information is observed to hold at zero temperature, it breaks down at finite temperatures, suggesting that these quantities represent strong long-range correlations of different origins. Our results generalize previous findings that were limited to the case of a chemical-potential bias at zero temperature, rigorously demonstrating that the effect of long-range volume-law entanglement is robust at finite temperatures., Comment: 16+4 pages, 4 figures. v2: Published version, 17+4 pages, 5 figures

Out-of-equilibrium states of many-body systems tend to evade a description by standard statistical mechanics, and their uniqueness is epitomized by the possibility of certain long-range correlations that cannot occur in equilibrium. In quantum many-body systems, coherent correlations of this sort may lead to the emergence of remarkable entanglement structures. In this work, we analytically study the asymptotic scaling of quantum correlation measures -- the mutual information and the fermionic negativity -- within the zero-temperature steady state of voltage-biased free fermions on a one-dimensional lattice containing a noninteracting impurity. Previously, we have shown that two subsystems on opposite sides of the impurity exhibit volume-law entanglement, which is independent of the absolute distances of the subsystems from the impurity. Here we go beyond that result and derive the exact form of the subleading logarithmic corrections to the extensive terms of correlation measures, in excellent agreement with numerical calculations. In particular, the logarithmic term of the mutual information asymptotics can be encapsulated in a concise formula, depending only on simple four-point ratios of subsystem length-scales and on the impurity scattering probabilities at the Fermi energies. This echoes the case of equilibrium states, where such logarithmic terms may convey universal information about the physical system. To compute these exact results, we devise a hybrid method that relies on Toeplitz determinant asymptotics for correlation matrices in both real space and momentum space, successfully circumventing the inhomogeneity of the system. This method can potentially find wider use for analytical calculations of entanglement measures in similar scenarios., Comment: v1: 21+5 pages, 4 figures; the main results appearing here were originally reported as part of arXiv:2205.12991, and are removed from there to allow a more elaborate discussion. v2: Published version, 21+6 pages, 4+1 figures

Topological excitations or defects such as solitons are ubiquitous throughout physics, supporting numerous interesting phenomena like zero energy modes with exotic statistics and fractionalized charges. In this paper, we study such objects through the lens of symmetry-resolved entanglement entropy. Specifically, we compute the charge-resolved entanglement entropy for a single interval in the low-lying states of the Su-Schrieffer-Heeger model in the presence of topological defects. Using a combination of exact and asymptotic analytical techniques, backed up by numerical analysis, we find that, compared to the unresolved counterpart and to the pure system, a richer structure of entanglement emerges. This includes a redistribution between its configurational and fluctuational parts due to the presence of the defect and an interesting interplay with entanglement equipartition. In particular, in a subsystem that excludes the defect, equipartition is restricted to charge sectors of the same parity, while full equipartition is restored if the subsystem includes the defect, as long as the associated zero mode remains unoccupied. Additionally, by exciting zero modes in the presence of multiple defects, we observe a significant enhancement of entanglement in certain charge sectors, due to charge splitting on the defects. The two different scenarios featuring the breakdown of entanglement equipartition are underlied by a joint mechanism, which we unveil by relating them to degeneracies in the spectrum of the entanglement Hamiltonian. In addition, equipartition is shown to stem from an equidistant entanglement spectrum., Comment: 17 pages, 7 figures and 4 appendices

Entanglement measures constitute powerful tools in the quantitative description of quantum many-body systems out of equilibrium. We study entanglement in the current-carrying steady state of a paradigmatic one-dimensional model of noninteracting fermions at zero temperature in the presence of a scatterer. We show that disjoint intervals located on opposite sides of the scatterer, and within similar distances from it, maintain volume-law entanglement regardless of their separation, as measured by their fermionic negativity and coherent information. The mutual information of the intervals, which quantifies the total correlations between them, follows a similar scaling. Interestingly, this scaling entails in particular that if the position of one of the intervals is kept fixed, then the correlation measures depend non-monotonically on the distance between the intervals. By deriving exact expressions for the extensive terms of these quantities, we prove their simple functional dependence on the scattering probabilities, and demonstrate that the strong long-range entanglement is generated by the coherence between the transmitted and reflected parts of propagating particles within the bias-voltage window. The generality and simplicity of the model suggest that this behavior should characterize a large class of nonequilibrium steady states., Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures + Supplemental Material. v2: Published version, 10+10 pages, 3+2 figures; the discussion of logarithmic corrections was removed, and is now elaborated separately in arXiv:2310.16901

Entanglement plays a prominent role in the study of condensed matter many-body systems: Entanglement measures not only quantify the possible use of these systems in quantum information protocols, but also shed light on their physics. However, exact analytical results remain scarce, especially for systems out of equilibrium. In this work we examine a paradigmatic one-dimensional fermionic system that consists of a uniform tight-binding chain with an arbitrary scattering region near its center, which is subject to a DC bias voltage at zero temperature. The system is thus held in a current-carrying nonequilibrium steady state, which can nevertheless be described by a pure quantum state. Using a generalization of the Fisher-Hartwig conjecture, we present an exact calculation of the bipartite entanglement entropy of a subsystem with its complement, and show that the scaling of entanglement with the length of the subsystem is highly unusual, containing both a volume-law linear term and a logarithmic term. The linear term is related to imperfect transmission due to scattering, and provides a generalization of the Levitov-Lesovik full counting statistics formula. The logarithmic term arises from the Fermi discontinuities in the distribution function. Our analysis also produces an exact expression for the particle-number-resolved entanglement. We find that although to leading order entanglement equipartition applies, the first term breaking it grows with the size of the subsystem, a novel behavior not observed in previously studied systems. We apply our general results to a concrete model of a tight-binding chain with a single impurity site, and show that the analytical expressions are in good agreement with numerical calculations. The analytical results are further generalized to accommodate the case of multiple scattering regions., Comment: 27+18 pages, 11 figures; v2: published version

In a quantum many-body system that possesses an additive conserved quantity, the entanglement entropy of a subsystem can be resolved into a sum of contributions from different sectors of the subsystem's reduced density matrix, each sector corresponding to a possible value of the conserved quantity. Recent studies have discussed the basic properties of these symmetry-resolved contributions, and calculated them using conformal field theory and numerical methods. In this work we employ the generalized Fisher-Hartwig conjecture to obtain exact results for the characteristic function of the symmetry-resolved entanglement ("flux-resolved entanglement") for certain 1D spin chains, or, equivalently, the 1D fermionic tight binding and the Kitaev chain models. These results are true up to corrections of order $o(L^{-1})$ where $L$ is the subsystem size. We confirm that this calculation is in good agreement with numerical results. For the gapless tight binding chain we report an intriguing periodic structure of the characteristic functions, which nicely extends the structure predicted by conformal field theory. For the Kitaev chain in the topological phase we demonstrate the degeneracy between the even and odd fermion parity sectors of the entanglement spectrum due to virtual Majoranas at the entanglement cut. We also employ the Widom conjecture to obtain the leading behavior of the symmetry-resolved entanglement entropy in higher dimensions for an ungapped free Fermi gas in its ground state., Comment: 29 pages, 7 figures; v2: published version