Experimental observation of classical analogy of topological entanglement entropy

Long-range entanglement is an important aspect of the topological orders, so efficient methods to characterize the long-range entanglement are often needed. In this regard, topological entanglement entropy (TEE) is often used for such a purpose but the experimental observation of TEE in a topological order remains a challenge. Here, we propose a scheme to observe TEE in the topological order by constructing specific minimum entropy states (MESs). We then experimentally construct the classical microwave analogs of the MESs and simulate the nontrivial topological order with the TEE in Kitaev toric code, which is in agreement with theoretical predictions. We also experimentally simulate the transition from Z ₂ topologically ordered state to topologically trivial state.