Entanglement Spectrum of a Random Partition: Connection with the Localization Transition

Abstract

We study the entanglement spectrum of a translationally-invariant lattice system under a random partition, implemented by choosing each site to be in one subsystem with probability $p\in[0, 1]$. We apply this random partitioning to a translationally-invariant (i.e., clean) topological state, and argue on general grounds that the corresponding entanglement spectrum captures the universal behavior about its disorder-driven transition to a trivial localized phase. Specifically, as a function of the partitioning probability $p$, the entanglement Hamiltonian $H_{A}$ must go through a topological phase transition driven by the percolation of a random network of edge-states. As an example, we analytically derive the entanglement Hamiltonian for a one-dimensional topological superconductor under a random partition, and demonstrate that its phase diagram includes transitions between Griffiths phases.