Diagnosing quantum phase transitions via holographic entanglement entropy at finite temperature

Abstract

Abstract We investigate the behavior of the holographic entanglement entropy (HEE) in proximity to the quantum critical points (QCPs) of the metal-insulator transition (MIT) in the Einstein–Maxwell-dilaton-axions (EMDA) model. Since both the metallic phase and the insulating phase are characterized by distinct IR geometries, we used to expect that the HEE itself characterizes the QCPs. This expectation is validated for certain cases, however, we make a noteworthy observation: for a specific scenario where $$-1<\gamma \le -1/3$$ - 1 < γ ≤ - 1 / 3 , with $$\gamma $$ γ as a coupling parameter, it is not the HEE itself but rather the second-order derivative of HEE with respect to the lattice wave number that effectively characterizes quantum phase transitions (QPTs). This distinction arises due to the influence of thermal effects. These findings present novel insights into the interplay between HEE and QPTs in the context of the MIT, and have significant implications for studying QPTs at finite temperatures.