Entanglement under the renormalization-group transformations on quantum states and in quantum phase transitions

We consider quantum states under the renormalization-group (RG) transformations introduced by Verstraete [Phys. Rev. Lett.PRLTAO0031-900710. 1103/PhysRevLett.94.140601 94, 140601 (2005)] and propose a quantification of entanglement under such RGs (via the geometric measure of entanglement). We examine the resulting entanglement under RG transformations for the ground states of "matrix-product-state" Hamiltonians constructed by Wolf [Phys. Rev. Lett.PRLTAO0031-900710.1103/PhysRevLett.97.110403 97, 110403 (2006)] that possess quantum phase transitions. We find that near critical points, the ground-state entanglement exhibits singular behavior. The singular behavior within finite steps of the RG obeys a scaling hypothesis and reveals the correlation length exponent. However, under the infinite steps of RG transformation, the singular behavior is rendered different and is universal only when there is an underlying conformal-field-theory description of the critical point.