Geometric entropy of nonrelativistic fermions and two-dimensional strings

Abstract

We consider the geometric-entropy of free nonrelativistic fermions in two dimensions and show that it is ultraviolet finite for finite Fermi energies, but divergent in the infrared. In terms of the corresponding collective field theory this is a nonperturbative effect and is related to the soft behavior of the usual thermodynamic entropy at high temperatures. We then show that thermodynamic entropy of the singlet sector of the one-dimensional matrix model at high temperatures is governed by nonperturbative effects of the underlying string theory. In the high temperature limit the "exact" expression for the entropy is regular but leads to a negative specific heat, thus implying an instability. We speculate that in a properly defined two-dimensional string theory, the thermodynamic entropy could approach a constant at high temperatures and lead to a geometric entropy which is finite in the ultraviolet.