In this Letter we discuss the entanglement near a quantum phase transition by analyzing the properties of the concurrence for a class of exactly solvable models in one dimension. We find that entanglement can be classified in the framework of scaling theory. Further, we reveal a profound difference between classical correlations and the non-local quantum correlation, entanglement: the correlation length diverges at the phase transition, whereas entanglement in general remains short ranged.Classical phase transitions occur when a physical system reaches a state below a critical temperature characterized by a macroscopic order [1]. Quantum phase transitions occur at absolute zero; they are induced by the change of an external parameter or coupling constant [2], and are driven by fluctuations. Examples include transitions in quantum Hall systems [3], localization in Si-MOSFETs (metal oxide silicon field-effect transistors; Ref. [4]) and the superconductor-insulator transition in two-dimensional systems [5,6]. Both classical and quantum critical points are governed by a diverging correlation length, although quantum systems possess additional correlations that do not have a classical counterpart. This phenomenon, known as entanglement [7], is the resource that enables quantum computation and communication [8]. The role of the entanglement at a phase transition is not captured by statistical mechanics -a complete classification of the critical many-body state requires the introduction of concepts from quantum information theory [9]. Here we connect the theory of critical phenomena with quantum information by exploring the entangling resources of a system close to its quantum critical point. We demonstrate, for a class of one-dimensional magnetic systems, that entanglement shows scaling behaviour in the vicinity of the transition point.There are various questions that emerge in the study of this problem. Since the ground state wave-function undergoes qualitative changes at a quantum phase transition, it is important to understand how its genuine quantum aspects evolve throughout the transition. Will entanglement between distant subsystems be extended over macroscopic regions, as correlations are? Will it carry distinct features of the transition itself and show scaling behaviour? Answering these questions is important for a deeper understanding of quantum phase transitions and also from the perspective of quantum information theory. So results that bridge these two areas of research are of great relevance. We study a set of localized spins coupled through exchange interaction and subject to an external magnetic field (we consider only spin-1/2 particles), a model central both to condensed matter and information theory and subject to intense study [10]. FIG. 1. The change in the ground state wave-function in the critical region is analyzed considering ∂ λ C(1) as a function of the reduced coupling strength λ. The curves correspond to different lattice sizes N = 11, 41, 101, 251, 401, ∞. We choose N odd to avoid the sub...

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We propose and study a model of dephasing due to an environment of bistable fluctuators. We apply our analysis to the decoherence of Josephson qubits, induced by background charges present in the substrate, which are also responsible for the 1/f noise. The discrete nature of the environment leads to a number of new features which are mostly pronounced for slowly moving charges. Far away from the degeneracy this model for the dephasing is solved exactly.

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