Export citation

Export citation

Choose format for download:

Download Citation

    Singularity and universality from von Neumann to Rényi entanglement entropy and disorder operator in Motzkin chains

    Jianyu Wang1,2,3,4,5, Zenan Liu6,5, Zheng Yan6,5,*, and Congjun Wu2,3,4,5,†

    • 1State Key Laboratory of Surface Physics and Department of Physics, Fudan University, Shanghai 200438, China
    • 2New Cornerstone Science Laboratory, Department of Physics, School of Science, Westlake University, Hangzhou 310024, China
    • 3Institute for Theoretical Sciences, Westlake University, Hangzhou 310024, China
    • 4Key Laboratory for Quantum Materials of Zhejiang Province, School of Science, Westlake University, Hangzhou 310024, China
    • 5Institute of Natural Sciences, Westlake Institute for Advanced Study, Hangzhou 310024, China
    • 6Department of Physics, School of Science and Research Center for Industries of the Future, Westlake University, Hangzhou 310030, China

    • *Contact author: zhengyan@westlake.edu.cn
    • †Contact author: wucongjun@westlake.edu.cn

    Phys. Rev. B 112, 075128 – Published 14 August, 2025

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/wffk-7ycs

    Abstract

    Rényi entanglement entropy is widely used to study quantum entanglement properties in strongly correlated systems, and its analytic continuation as the Rényi index n→1 is often believed to yield von Neumann entanglement entropy. However, earlier theoretical analysis indicated that this process exhibits a singularity for the colored Motzkin spin chain problem, leading to different system size l scaling behaviors of ∼l and ∼lnl for the von Neumann and Rényi entropies, respectively. Our analytical and numerical calculations confirm this transition, which can be explained by the exponentially increasing density of states in the entanglement spectrum we extract numerically. Moreover, disorder operators can be measured easily in numerics and experiments and always have area-law or volume-law scaling similar to entanglement entropies. We further explored disorder operators under various symmetries of such a system. Both analytical and numerical results demonstrate that the scaling behaviors of disorder operators also follow lnl as the leading term, matching that of Rényi entropy. Moreover, we find that the coefficient of the term lnl is a universal constant shared by both the Rényi entropy and disorder operators and propose that it can probe the underlying constraint physics of Motzkin walks.

    Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

    Authorization Required

    We need you to provide your credentials before accessing this content.

    References (Subscription Required)

    Outline

    Information

    Sign In to Your Journals Account

    Filter

    Filter

    Article Lookup

    Enter a citation