The negative sign problem in quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) simulations of cluster impurity problems is the major bottleneck in cluster dynamical mean-field calculations. In this paper, we systematically investigate the dependence of the sign problem on the single-particle basis. We explore both the hybridization-expansion and interaction-expansion variants of continuous-time QMC simulations for three-site and four-site impurity models with baths that are diagonal in the orbital degrees of freedom. We find that the sign problem in these models can be substantially reduced by using a nontrivial single-particle basis. Such bases can be generated by diagonalizing a subset of the intracluster hoppings.
The negative sign problem in quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) simulations of cluster impurity problems is the major bottleneck in cluster dynamical mean-field calculations. In this paper, we systematically investigate the dependence of the sign problem on the single-particle basis. We explore both the hybridization-expansion and interaction-expansion variants of continuous-time QMC simulations for three-site and four-site impurity models with baths that are diagonal in the orbital degrees of freedom. We find that the sign problem in these models can be substantially reduced by using a nontrivial single-particle basis. Such bases can be generated by diagonalizing a subset of the intracluster hoppings.
Sign problem in quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) simulation appears to be an extremely hard yet interesting problem. In this article, we present a pedagogical overview on the origin of the sign problem in various quantum Monte Carlo simulation techniques, ranging from the world-line and stochastic series expansion Monte Carlo for boson and spin systems to the determinant and momentum-space quantum Monte Carlo for interacting fermions. We point out the basis dependency of the sign problem and summarize the progresses to cure, ease and even make use of the sign problem over the years, such as symmetry analysis of the underlying Hamiltonian, basis optimization in writting down the partition functions and many others. Moreover, we state that although traditional lore saying that in case of sign problem, the average sign in QMC simulation approaches zero exponentially fast with the space-time volume of the configurational space, there are recent breakthroughs showing this is not always the case and based on the properties of the partition function for finite size systems, one could distinguish when the average sign has the usual exponential scaling and when it is bestowed with an algebraic scaling at the low temperature limit. Fermionic QMC simulations with such algebraic sign problems have been successfully carried out for extended Hubbard-type and quantum Moiré lattice models.
The sign problem in full configuration interaction quantum Monte Carlo (FCIQMC) without annihilation can be understood as an instability of the psi-particle population to the ground state of the matrix obtained by making all off-diagonal elements of the Hamiltonian negative. Such a matrix, and hence the sign problem, is basis dependent. In this paper, we discuss the properties of a physically important basis choice: first versus second quantization. For a given choice of single-particle orbitals, we identify the conditions under which the fermion sign problem in the second quantized basis of antisymmetric Slater determinants is identical to the sign problem in the first quantized basis of unsymmetrized Hartree products. We also show that, when the two differ, the fermion sign problem is always less severe in the second quantized basis. This supports the idea that FCIQMC, even in the absence of annihilation, improves the sign problem relative to first quantized methods. Finally, we point out some theoretically interesting classes of Hamiltonians where first and second quantized sign problems differ, and others where they do not.
Abstract: Originally designed for the study of strong electronic correlations in model Hamiltonians, dynamical mean field theory (DMFT) has become, in combination with density functional theory (DFT), a powerful tool for ab initio simulations of real materials. At the heart of DMFT lies the solution of a quantum impurity problem. While only the continuous-time quantum Monte Carlo (CT-QMC) impurity solvers yield (statistically) exact solutions of a general impurity problem, they are quite complex and computationally expensive. Hence, in this thesis we are interested in improving the CT-QMC impurity solvers. After a short introduction to DMFT and its cluster extensions, we begin by reviewing two of the CT-QMC impurity solvers, the interaction expansion or “Rubtsov” solver (CT- INT) and the hybridization expansion solver (CT-HYB). Focussing on the latter, which is the algorithm of choice within real material simulations, we then show how to reduce a sign problem, allowing us to address the unusual criticality found in layered organic superconductors. With high-T c superconductivity as example, we further discuss how to ensure ergodicity of the CT-HYB solver in the context of broken symmetries. Finally, algorithmic optimizations of CT-HYB are presented and combined, leading to speedups of up to 500 within the context of real material simulations. // Résumé: Initialement conçue pour traiter les fortes corrélations électroniques dans des hamiltoniens modèles, la théorie du champ moyen dynamique (DMFT) est devenue, en combinaison avec la théorie de la densité fonctionnelle (DFT), un outil puissant pour la simulation de matériaux réels. Au cœur de la DMFT se trouve la solution d'un modèle d'impureté quantique. Seulement les solutionneurs d'impureté Monte Carlo en temps continu (CT-QMC) donnent des solutions exactes. En même temps, ces solutionneurs sont plutôt complexes et gourmands en temps de calcul. Le but de cette thèse est donc d'améliorer les solutionneurs d'impureté CT-QMC. Après une courte introduction à la DMFT et à ses extensions pour les amas, on commence par une revue de deux des solutionneurs CT-QMC, celui en développement d'interaction ou de "Rubtsov" (CT-INT) et celui en développement d'hybridation (CT-HYB). Mettant l'accent sur le dernier, qui est l'algorithme de choix dans le cadre des matériaux réels, on montre alors comment réduire un problème de signe, nous permettant ainsi de traiter la criticalité inhabituelle des organiques en couche. Avec la supraconductivité à haute température critique comme exemple, on discute ensuite comment assurer l'ergodicité du solutionneur CT-HYB dans le cadre des symétries brisées. Finalement, des optimisations algorithmiques sont présentées et combinées, amenant à des accélérations allant jusqu'à un facteur de 500 dans le contexte des matériaux réels.
Due to the intrinsic complexity of the quantum many-body problem, quantum Monte Carlo algorithms and their corresponding Monte Carlo configurations can be defined in various ways. Configurations corresponding to few Feynman diagrams often lead to severe sign problems. On the other hand, computing the configuration weight becomes numerically expensive in the opposite limit in which many diagrams are grouped together. Here we show that for continuous-time quantum Monte Carlo in the hybridization expansion the efficiency can be substantially improved by dividing the local impurity trace into fragments, which are then sampled individually. For this technique, which also turns out to preserve the fermionic sign, a modified update strategy is introduced in order to ensure ergodicity. Our (super)state sampling is particularly beneficial to calculations with many d orbitals and general local interactions, such as full Coulomb interaction. For illustration, we reconsider the simple albeit well-known case of a degenerate three-orbital model at low temperatures. This allows us to quantify the coherence properties of the ``spin-freezing'' crossover, even close to the Mott transition.
Quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) methods for the frustrated quantum spin systems occasionally suffer from the negative sign problem, which makes simulations exponentially harder for larger systems at lower temperatures and severely limits QMC's application across a wide range of spin systems. This problem is known to depend on the choice of representation basis. We propose a systematic approach for mitigating the sign problem independent of the given Hamiltonian or lattice structure. We first introduce the concept of negativity to characterize the severity of the negative sign problem. We then demonstrate the existence of a locally defined quantity, the L1 adaptive loss function, which effectively approximates negativity, especially in frustration-free systems. Using the proposed loss function, we demonstrate that optimizing the representation basis can mitigate the negative sign. This is evidenced by several frustration-free models and other important quantum spin systems. Furthermore, we compare the effectiveness of unitary transformations against the standard orthogonal transformation and reveal that unitary transformations can effectively mitigate the sign problem in certain cases.