Brown Bag Seminar | Dynamical Edge Modes and Entanglement in Gauge Theory

Standard approaches to entanglement entropy assume a factorization of the Hilbert space along subregions. All QFTs have UV obstructions to this factorization, requiring regularization. Gauge theories have additional, global/IR obstructions. The treatment in the existing literature for entanglement entropy in gauge theories involves a by-hand path integral over non-dynamical superselection sectors, labeled by edge modes. I will describe a new approach that treats the edge modes dynamically, incorporating them into a single phase space, and allows the entanglement to be written as a genuine thermal trace on a subregion. I will provide checks in all dimensions by comparing with recent results on sphere partition functions.