Untwisted and Twisted R\'enyi Negativities: Toward a R\'enyi Proxy for Logarithmic Negativity in Fermionic Systems

Abstract

Entanglement entropy is a fundamental measure of quantum entanglement for pure states, but for large-scale many-body systems, R\'{e}nyi entanglement entropy is much more computationally accessible. For mixed states, logarithmic negativity (LN) serves as a widely used entanglement measure, but its direct computation is often intractable, leaving R\'{e}nyi negativity (RN) as the practical alternative. In fermionic systems, RN is further classified into untwisted and twisted types, depending on the definition of the fermionic partial transpose. However, which of these serves as the true R\'{e}nyi proxy for LN has remained unclear -- until now. In this work, we address this question by developing a robust quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) method to compute both untwisted and twisted RNs, focusing on the rank-4 twisted RN, where non-trivial behavior emerges. We identify and overcome two major challenges: the singularity of the Green's function matrix and the exponentially large variance of RN estimators. Our method is demonstrated in the Hubbard model and the spinless $t$-$V$ model, revealing critical distinctions between untwisted and twisted RNs, as well as between rank-2 and high-rank RNs. Remarkably, we find that the twisted R\'{e}nyi negativity ratio (RNR) adheres to the area law and decreases monotonically with temperature, in contrast to the untwisted RNR but consistent with prior studies of bosonic systems. This study not only establishes the twisted RNR as a more pertinent R\'{e}nyi proxy for LN in fermionic systems but also provides comprehensive technical details for the stable and efficient computation of high-rank RNs. Our work lays the foundation for future studies of mixed-state entanglement in large-scale fermionic many-body systems.