Universal Asymptotic Eigenvalue Distribution of Density Matrices and the Corner Transfer Matrices in the Thermodynamic Limit

Abstract

We study the asymptotic behavior of the eigenvalue distribution of the Baxter's corner transfer matrix (CTM) and the density matrix (DM) in the White's density-matrix renormalization group (DMRG), for one-dimensional quantum and two-dimensional classical statistical systems. We utilize the relationship ${\rm DM}={\rm CTM}^4$ which holds for non-critical systems in the thermodynamic limit. Using the known diagonal form of CTM, we derive exact asymptotic form of the DM eigenvalue distribution for the integrable $S=1/2$ XXZ chain (and its related integrable models) in the massive regime. The result is then recast into a ``universal'' form without model-specific quantities, which leads to $ω_{m}\sim \exp[-{\rm const.}(\log m)^2]$ for $m$-th DM eigenvalue at larg $m$. We perform numerical renormalization group calculations (using the corner-transfer-matrix RG and the product-wavefunction RG) for non-integrable models, verifying the ``universal asymptotic form'' for them. Our results strongly suggest the universality of the asymptotic eigenvalue distribution of DM and CTM for a wide class of systems.