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

Kouichi Okunishi, Yasuhiro Hieida, Yasuhiro Akutsu

Published 1998-10-20Version 1

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 $\omega_{m}\sim \exp[-{\rm const.}(\log m)^2]$ 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.