Entanglement asymmetry and the limits of symmetry breaking

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• Stathis Vitouladitis (Université Libre de Bruxelles)
• Thursday 23 October 2025, 10:00-11:30
• Seminar Room 2, Newton Institute.

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BID - Quantum field theory with boundaries, impurities, and defects

Entanglement asymmetry is a novel diagnostic of symmetry breaking, rooted in quantum information theory, particularly effective at capturing such effects within subsystems. In this talk, I will first introduce this observable, outline recent developments, and then generalise it to higher-form symmetries, with applications to topological phases and systems with continuous symmetry breaking. As a main application, I will establish an entropic Mermin-Wagner-Coleman theorem, valid for both 0-form and higher-form symmetries, and extended to subregions. These entropic theorems not only detect but also quantify symmetry breaking. In Goldstone phases (when allowed), the Rényi and entanglement asymmetries, increase monotonically with subregion size. Along the way, I will clarify subtleties in defining and computing entanglement asymmetry by Euclidean path integral methods and present standalone results on the entanglement entropy of gauge fields.  

This talk is part of the Isaac Newton Institute Seminar Series series.

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