[RBRC seminar] Thermalization of Gauge Theories from their Entanglement Spectrum
by
Niklas Mueller
(University of Maryland)
→
US/Eastern
Description
Using dual theories embedded into a larger unphysical Hilbert space along entanglement cuts, we study the Entanglement Structure of Z2 lattice gauge theory in (2+1) spacetime dimensions. We find that Li and Haldane's conjecture holds for gauge theories, and show consistency of the Entanglement Hamiltonian with the Bisognano-Wichmann theorem. Studying non-equilibrium dynamics after a quench, we provide a complete description of thermalization in Z2 gauge theory which proceeds in a characteristic sequence: Maximization of the Schmidt rank and spreading of level repulsion at early times, self-similar evolution with scaling coefficients α=0.8±0.1 and β=0.05±0.03 at intermediate times, and finally thermal saturation of the von Neumann entropy.
