Negativity and topological order in the toric code

Oct 16, 2013
Published in:
  • Phys.Rev.A 88 (2013) 4, 042319
  • Published: Oct 16, 2013

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Abstract: (APS)
In this paper we study the behavior of the entanglement measure dubbed negativity in the context of the toric code model. Using a replica method introduced recently by Calabrese, Cardy, and Tonni [Phys. Rev. Lett. 109, 130502 (2012)], we obtain an exact expression which illustrates how the nonlocal correlations present in a topologically ordered state reflect in the behavior of the negativity of the system. We find that the negativity has a leading area-law contribution if the subsystems are in direct contact with one another (as expected in a zero-range correlated model). We also find a topological contribution directly related to the topological entropy, provided that the partitions are topologically nontrivial in both directions on a torus. We further confirm by explicit calculation that the negativity captures only quantum contributions to the entanglement. Indeed, we show that the negativity vanishes identically for the classical topologically ordered eight-vertex model, which on the contrary exhibits a finite von Neumann entropy, inclusive of topological correction.