2017/05/30 by Mihael Hategan, Hategan, Mihael
Computer Science · Physics and Astronomy · #FOS: Physical sciences #High Energy Physics - Lattice (hep-lat) #High Energy Physics - Theory (hep-th) #Quantum Computing Algorithms and Architecture #Quantum many-body systems #Statistical Mechanics and Entropy
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1705.10474
openalex publication_date 2017/05/30 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
We show that the Hilbert space of physical states on a pure Z2 gauge lattice in 1 + 1 and 2 + 1 dimensions is geometrically separable if the fundamental physical degrees of freedom are taken to be the plaquettes. This results in a physical entanglement entropy that is not affected by gauge fixing. We introduce a lattice model that is physically equivalent to the original and whose entanglement entropy, calculated using link degrees of freedom, is the same as the entanglement entropy calculated using physical states. We also show that, for non-physical gauge link states, entanglement entropy quantifies constraints between gauge choices in plaquettes adjacent to the boundary.