Boundary effect and correlations in fermionic Gaussian states

Abstract

The effect of boundaries on the bulk properties of quantum many-body systems is an intriguing subject of study. One can define a boundary effect function, which quantifies the change in the ground state as a function of the distance from the boundary. This function serves as an upper bound for the correlation functions and the entanglement entropies in the thermodynamic limit. Here, we perform numerical analyses of the boundary effect function for one-dimensional free-fermion models. We find that the upper bound established by the boundary effect function is tight for the examined systems, providing a deep insight into how correlations and entanglement are developed in the ground state as the system size grows. As a by-product, we derive a general fidelity formula for fermionic Gaussian states in a self-contained manner, rendering the formula easier to apprehend.