Finite-temperature Rydberg arrays: quantum phases and entanglement characterization

TL;DR

This paper develops a tensor network approach to study finite-temperature quantum phases and entanglement in Rydberg atom arrays, revealing how thermal fluctuations influence ordered phases and entanglement scaling.

Contribution

It introduces a new tensor network-based numerical toolbox for analyzing thermal states in Rydberg arrays, extending zero-temperature critical insights to finite temperatures.

Findings

Ordered phases shrink with increasing temperature.

Entanglement scaling laws extend from zero to low temperatures.

Thermal fluctuations affect classical correlations and entanglement measures.

Abstract

As one of the most prominent platforms for analog quantum simulators, Rydberg atom arrays are a promising tool for exploring quantum phases and transitions. While the ground state properties of one-dimensional Rydberg systems are already thoroughly examined, we extend the analysis towards the finite-temperature scenario. For this purpose, we develop a tensor network-based numerical toolbox for constructing the quantum many-body states at thermal equilibrium, which we exploit to probe classical correlations as well as entanglement monotones. We clearly observe ordered phases continuously shrinking due to thermal fluctuations at finite system sizes. Moreover, by examining the entanglement of formation and entanglement negativity of a half-system bipartition, we numerically confirm that a conformal scaling law of entanglement extends from the zero-temperature critical points into the low-temperature regime.