Global quantum discord in infinite quantum spin chains

TL;DR

This paper introduces a method to calculate global quantum discord in infinite quantum spin chains using matrix product states, revealing how it scales with chain size and relates to quantum phase transitions.

Contribution

It proposes an effective procedure to compute global quantum discord in infinite chains and analyzes its behavior across different models and phases.

Findings

Gn grows linearly with chain size n

In non-critical regions, the slope of Gn converges quickly

Gn/n describes the quantum correlation per site and between a site and a block

Abstract

In this paper, we study global quantum discord (GQD) in infinite-size spin chains. For this purpose, in the framework of matrix product states (MPSs), we propose an effective procedure to calculate GQD (denoted as Gn) for consecutive n-site subchains in infinite chains. For a spin-1/2 three-body interaction model, whose ground state can be exactly expressed as MPSs, We use the procedure to study Gn with n up to $24$. Then for a spin-1/2 XXZ chain, we firstly use infinite time-evolving block decimation (iTEBD) algorithm to obtain the approximate wavefunction in the from of MPSs, and then figure out Gn with n up to $18$. In both models, Gn shows an interesting linear growth as the increase of n, that is, Gn = k*n+b. Moreover, in non-critical regions the slope $k$ of Gn converges very fast, while in critical regions it converges relatively slow, and the behaviors are explained in a clear physical picture with the short-range and long-range correlations. Based on these results, we propose to use Gn/n to describe the global correlations in infinite chains. Gn/n has twofold physical meanings. Firstly, it can be regarded as "global discord per site", very similar to "energy per site" or "magnetization per site" in quantum magnetic systems. Secondly, Gn/n (when n is large enough) describes the quantum correlation between a single site and an (n-1)-site block. Then we successfully apply our theory to an exactly soluble infinite-size spin XY chain which is beyond the matrix product formula, and the Hamiltonian can reduce to the transverse-field Ising model and the XX model. The relation between GQD and quantum phase transitions in these models is discussed.