Measurement-Induced Phase Transitions in the Dynamics of Entanglement

© 2019 authors. Published by the American Physical Society. We define dynamical universality classes for many-body systems whose unitary evolution is punctuated by projective measurements. In cases where such measurements occur randomly at a finite rate p for each degree of freedom, we show that the system has two dynamical phases: "entangling" and "disentangling." The former occurs for p smaller than a critical rate pc and is characterized by volume-law entanglement in the steady state and "ballistic" entanglement growth after a quench. By contrast, for p>pc the system can sustain only area-law entanglement. At p=pc the steady state is scale invariant, and in 1+1D, the entanglement grows logarithmically…

• UD
  U.S. Department of Energy

  Award: DE-SC0001088
• GA
  Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation

  Award: GBMF4303
• MI
  Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• OO
  Office of Science
• EA
  Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council

  Award: EP/N028678/1
• BE
  Basic Energy Sciences