Modular Hamiltonian of the massive scalar field on the half line: A numerical approach

Abstract

We study the modular Hamiltonian of an interval for the ground state of a massive free scalar field on the half line with Robin boundary conditions, by employing a numerical method. When the interval is adjacent to the boundary, we find numerical evidence that the modular Hamiltonian is non-local, except for the limiting cases of the massless scalar satisfying either Dirichlet or Neumann boundary conditions. When the interval is separated from the boundary, the numerical analysis indicates that the modular Hamiltonian is non-local for all these boundary conditions and any value of the mass.