Differential entropy per particle as a probe of van Hove singularities and flat bands*

We derive the general expressions for the differential entropy per particle near van Hove singularities (vHs) in the density of states. The dependence of entropy per particle on chemical potential and temperature demonstrates different behavior depending on the type of vHs, and distinguishes high-order vHs with different divergence exponents and flat bands. In addition, it allows one to test the "flatness" of the band in experiment. We compare the analytic predictions with the numerical calculation of the differential entropy for tight-binding models of graphene, the Lieb lattice, and the square-octagon lattice. Our results show that the obtained analytic expressions capture the main features of the differential entropy, thus serving as a good probe for details of the density of states structure.