In this paper we explore the practical use of the corner transfer matrix and its higher-dimensional generalization, the corner tensor, to develop tensor network algorithms for the classical simulation of quantum lattice systems of infinite size. This exploration is done mainly in one and two spatial dimensions (1D and 2D). We describe a number of numerical algorithms based on corner matrices and tensors to approximate different ground-state properties of these systems. The proposed methods also make use of matrix product operators and projected entangled pair operators and naturally preserve spatial symmetries of the system such as translation invariance. In order to assess the validity of our algorithms, we provide preliminary benchmarking calculations for the spin-1/2 quantum Ising model in a transverse field in both 1D and 2D. Our methods are a plausible alternative to other well-established tensor network approaches such as iDMRG and iTEBD in 1D, and iPEPS and TERG in 2D. The computational complexity of the proposed algorithms is also considered and, in 2D, important differences are found depending on the chosen simulation scheme. We also discuss further possibilities, such as 3D quantum lattice systems, periodic boundary conditions, and real-time evolution. This discussion leads us to reinterpret the standard iTEBD and iPEPS algorithms in terms of corner transfer matrices and corner tensors. Our paper also offers a perspective on many properties of the corner transfer matrix and its higher-dimensional generalizations in the light of novel tensor network methods.
In this paper we explore the practical use of the corner transfer matrix and its higher-dimensional generalization, the corner tensor, to develop tensor network algorithms for the classical simulation of quantum lattice systems of infinite size. This exploration is done mainly in one and two spatial dimensions (1D and 2D). We describe a number of numerical algorithms based on corner matrices and tensors to approximate different ground-state properties of these systems. The proposed methods also make use of matrix product operators and projected entangled pair operators and naturally preserve spatial symmetries of the system such as translation invariance. In order to assess the validity of our algorithms, we provide preliminary benchmarking calculations for the spin-1/2 quantum Ising model in a transverse field in both 1D and 2D. Our methods are a plausible alternative to other well-established tensor network approaches such as iDMRG and iTEBD in 1D, and iPEPS and TERG in 2D. The computational complexity of the proposed algorithms is also considered and, in 2D, important differences are found depending on the chosen simulation scheme. We also discuss further possibilities, such as 3D quantum lattice systems, periodic boundary conditions, and real-time evolution. This discussion leads us to reinterpret the standard iTEBD and iPEPS algorithms in terms of corner transfer matrices and corner tensors. Our paper also offers a perspective on many properties of the corner transfer matrix and its higher-dimensional generalizations in the light of novel tensor network methods.
An extension of the projected entangled-pair states (PEPS) algorithm to infinite systems, known as the iPEPS algorithm, was recently proposed to compute the ground state of quantum systems on an infinite two dimensional lattice. Here we investigate a modification of the iPEPS algorithm, where the environment is computed using the corner transfer matrix renormalization group (CTMRG) method, instead of using one-dimensional transfer matrix methods as in the original proposal. We describe a variant of the CTMRG that addresses different directions of the lattice independently, and use it combined with imaginary time evolution to compute the ground state of the two dimensional quantum Ising model. Near criticality, the modified iPEPS algorithm is seen to provide a better estimation of the order parameter and correlators.
Tensor network algorithms have proven to be very powerful tools for studying one- and two-dimensional quantum many-body systems. However, their application to three-dimensional (3D) quantum systems has so far been limited, mostly because the efficient contraction of a 3D tensor network is very challenging. In this paper, we develop and benchmark two contraction approaches for infinite projected entangled-pair states (iPEPS) in 3D. The first approach is based on a contraction of a finite cluster of tensors including an effective environment to approximate the full 3D network. The second approach performs a full contraction of the network by first iteratively contracting layers of the network with a boundary iPEPS, followed by a contraction of the resulting quasi-2D network using the corner transfer matrix renormalization group. Benchmark data for the Heisenberg and Bose-Hubbard models on the cubic lattice show that the algorithms provide competitive results compared to other approaches, making iPEPS a promising tool to study challenging open problems in 3D.
An extension of the projected entangled-pair states (PEPS) algorithm to infinite systems, known as the iPEPS algorithm, was recently proposed to compute the ground state of quantum systems on an infinite two-dimensional lattice. Here we investigate a modification of the iPEPS algorithm, where the environment is computed using the corner transfer matrix renormalization group (CTMRG) method, instead of using one-dimensional transfer matrix methods as in the original proposal. We describe a variant of the CTMRG that addresses different directions of the lattice independently, and use it combined with imaginary time evolution to compute the ground state of the two-dimensional quantum Ising model. Near criticality, the modified iPEPS algorithm is seen to provide a better estimation of the order parameter and correlators.
In numerical simulations of classical and quantum lattice systems, 2D corner transfer matrices (CTMs) and 3D corner tensors (CTs) are a useful tool to compute approximate contractions of infinite-size tensor networks. In this paper we show how the numerical CTMs and CTs can be used, additionally, to extract universal information from their spectra. We provide examples of this for classical and quantum systems, in 1D, 2D, and 3D. Our results provide, in particular, practical evidence for a wide variety of models of the correspondence between d-dimensional quantum and (d+1)-dimensional classical spin systems. We show also how corner properties can be used to pinpoint quantum phase transitions, topological or not, without the need for observables. Moreover, for a chiral topological PEPS we show by examples that corner tensors can be used to extract the entanglement spectrum of half a system, with the expected symmetries of the SU(2)k Wess-Zumino-Witten model describing its gapless edge for k=1,2. We also review the theory behind the quantum-classical correspondence for spin systems and provide a numerical scheme for quantum state renormalization in 2D using CTs. Our results show that bulk information of a lattice system is encoded holographically in efficiently-computable properties of its corners.
We develop a strategy for tensor network algorithms that allows to deal very efficiently with lattices of high connectivity. The basic idea is to fine grain the physical degrees of freedom, i.e., decompose them into more fundamental units which, after a suitable coarse graining, provide the original ones. Thanks to this procedure, the original lattice with high connectivity is transformed by an isometry into a simpler structure, which is easier to simulate via usual tensor network methods. In particular this enables the use of standard schemes to contract infinite 2D tensor networks-such as corner transfer matrix renormalization schemes-which are more involved on complex lattice structures. We prove the validity of our approach by numerically computing the ground-state properties of the ferromagnetic spin-1 transverse-field Ising model on the 2D triangular and 3D stacked triangular lattice, as well as of the hardcore and softcore Bose-Hubbard models on the triangular lattice. Our results are benchmarked against those obtained with other techniques, such as perturbative continuous unitary transformations and graph projected entangled pair states, showing excellent agreement and also improved performance in several regimes.
The concept of the corner transfer matrix (CTM) was first discovered by Baxter in 1968, when he derived a set of variational matrix equations, which for finite matrix sizes, could be numerically solved to obtain a sequence of approximations for the statistical mechanical properties of a system of monomers and dimers on a rectangular lattice [1]. It was not until 1978, however, in a seminal paper entitled "Variational Approximations for Square Lattice Models in Statistical Mechanics" [4], that Baxter outlined his CTM variational method, which brought to light the potential power of the former objects to obtain numerics and series expansions for unsolved models and to calculate the order parameter of solved ones. Subsequent numerical work led to the realisation that the method, though general, was not very efficient; and increasing efficiency required making model specific modifications, which restricted the transferability of the resulting algorithm to other models. The CTM variational method was thus not widely adopted, despite holding much promise. More recently, however, Nishino and Okunishi discovered that White's density matrix renormalisation group (DMRG) algorithm [55, 56] could be efficiently extended to study two-dimensional classical lattice models, if the density matrix was approximated by Baxters CTMs. Numerical tests of their algorithm, the corner transfer matrix renormalisation group (CTMRG) method, were met with much success. Notable among these is its implementation within the infinite projected entangled-pair states (iPEPS) algorithm of Orus and Vidal to simulate the ground state of infinite two-dimensional quantum systems. In this thesis we review CTM derived variational methods: Baxter's original CTM iterative method, and developments of the CTM concept within the DMRG algorithm by Nishino and Okunishi, which led to the CTMRG method to calculate critical phenomena of classical and quantum systems. This will begin with elucidating the theoretical formalisms of both methods in two dimensions and their generalisations to three dimensions; followed by review of important application, namely, within the iPEPS algorithm of Orus and Vidal to numerically study infinite planar quantum systems.