Realizing the entanglement Hamiltonian of a topological quantum Hall system

Abstract: Topological quantum many-body systems, such as Hall insulators, are characterized by a hidden order encoded in the entanglement between their constituents. Entanglement entropy, an experimentally accessible single number that globally quantifies entanglement, has been proposed as a first signature of topological order. Conversely, the full description of entanglement relies on the entanglement Hamiltonian, a more complex object originally introduced to formulate quantum entanglement in curved spacetime. As conjectured by Li and Haldane, the entanglement Hamiltonian of a many-body system appears to be directly linked to its boundary properties, making it particularly useful for characterizing topological systems. While the entanglement spectrum is commonly used to identify complex phases arising in numerical simulations, its measurement remains an outstanding challenge. Here, we perform a variational approach to realize experimentally, as a genuine Hamiltonian, the entanglement Hamiltonian of a synthetic quantum Hall system. We use a synthetic dimension, encoded in the electronic spin of dysprosium atoms, to implement spatially deformed Hall systems, as suggested by the Bisognano-Wichmann prediction. The spectrum of the optimal variational Hamiltonian exhibits a chiral dispersion akin to a topological edge mode, revealing the fundamental link between entanglement and boundary physics. Our variational procedure can be easily generalized to interacting many-body systems on various platforms, marking an important step towards the exploration of exotic quantum systems with long-range correlations, such as fractional Hall states, chiral spin liquids and critical systems.