Entanglement dynamics in U(1) symmetric hybrid quantum automaton circuits

Abstract: We study the entanglement dynamics of quantum automaton (QA) circuits in the presence of U(1) symmetry. We find that the second R\'enyi entropy grows diffusively with a logarithmic correction as $\sqrt{t\ln{t}}$, saturating the bound established by Huang [IOP SciNotes 1, 035205 (2020)]. Thanks to the special feature of QA circuits, we understand the entanglement dynamics in terms of a classical bit string model. Specifically, we argue that the diffusive dynamics stems from the rare slow modes containing extensively long domains of spin 0s or 1s. Additionally, we investigate the entanglement dynamics of monitored QA circuits by introducing a composite measurement that preserves both the U(1) symmetry and properties of QA circuits. We find that as the measurement rate increases, there is a transition from a volume-law phase where the second R\'enyi entropy persists the diffusive growth (up to a logarithmic correction) to a critical phase where it grows logarithmically in time. This interesting phenomenon distinguishes QA circuits from non-automaton circuits such as U(1)-symmetric Haar random circuits, where a volume-law to an area-law phase transition exists, and any non-zero rate of projective measurements in the volume-law phase leads to a ballistic growth of the R\'enyi entropy.