Topological entanglement entropy of interacting disordered zigzag graphene ribbons

Abstract

Interacting disordered zigzag graphene nanoribbons have fractional charges, are quasi-one-dimensional, and display an exponentially small gap. Our numerical computations showed that the topological entanglement entropy of these systems has a small finite but universal value, independent of the strength of the interaction and the disorder. The result that was obtained for the topological entanglement entropy shows that the disorder-free phase is critical and becomes unstable in the presence of disorder. Our result for the entanglement spectrum in the presence of disorder is also consistent with the presence of a topologically ordered phase.