Recognizing critical lines via entanglement in non-Hermitian systems (2305.08374v1)

Abstract: The non-Hermitian model exhibits counter-intuitive phenomena which are not observed in the Hermitian counterparts. To probe the competition between non-Hermitian and Hermitian interacting components of the Hamiltonian, we focus on a system containing non-Hermitian XY spin chain and Hermitian Kaplan-Shekhtman-Entin-Aharony (KSEA) interactions along with the transverse magnetic field. We show that the non-Hermitian model can be an effective Hamiltonian of a Hermitian XX spin-1/2 with KSEA interaction and a local magnetic field that interacts with local and non-local reservoirs. The analytical expression of the energy spectrum divides the system parameters into two regimes -- in one region, the strength of Hermitian KSEA interactions dominates over the imaginary non-Hermiticity parameter while in the other, the opposite is true. In the former situation, we demonstrate that the nearest-neighbor entanglement and its derivative can identify quantum critical lines with the variation of the magnetic field. In this domain, we determine a surface where the entanglement vanishes, similar to the factorization surface, known in the Hermitian case. On the other hand, when non-Hermiticity parameters dominate, we report the exceptional and critical points where the energy gap vanishes and illustrate that bipartite entanglement is capable of detecting these transitions as well. Going beyond this scenario, when the ground state evolves after a sudden quench with the transverse magnetic field, both rate function and the fluctuation of bipartite entanglement quantified via its second moment can detect critical lines generated without quenching dynamics.