Scaling of Entanglement Entropy in Point Contact Free Fermion Systems
  The scaling of entanglement entropy is computationally studied in several $1\le d \le 2$ dimensional free fermion systems that are connected by one or more point contacts (PC). For both the $k$-leg Bethe lattice $(d =1)$ and $d=2$ rectangular lattices with a subsystem of $L^d$ sites, the entanglement entropy associated with a {\sl single} PC is found to be generically $S \sim L$. We argue that the $O(L)$ entropy is an expression of the subdominant $O(L)$ entropy of the bulk entropy-area law. For $d=2$ (square) lattices connected by $m$ PCs, the area law is found to be $S \sim aL^{d-1} + b m \log{L}$ and is thus consistent with the anomalous area law for free fermions ($S \sim L \log{L}$) as $m \rightarrow L$. For the Bethe lattice, the relevance of this result to Density Matrix Renormalization Group (DMRG) schemes for interacting fermions is discussed. 
B. Caravan, B. A. Friedman and G. C. Levine
cond-mat.str-el