A simple method for numerical analytic continuation is developed. It is designed to analytically continue the imaginary time (Matsubara frequency) quantum Monte Carlo simulation results to the real time (real frequency) domain. Such a method is based on the Padé approximation. We modify it to be a linear regression problem, and then use bootstrapping statistics to get the averaged result and estimate the error. Unlike maximum entropy method, no prior information is needed. Test-cases have shown that the spectrum is recovered for inputs with relative error as high as 1%.
A simple method for numerical analytic continuation is developed. It is designed to analytically continue the imaginary time (Matsubara frequency) quantum Monte Carlo simulation results to the real time (real frequency) domain. Such a method is based on the Padé approximation. We modify it to be a linear regression problem, and then use bootstrapping statistics to get the averaged result and estimate the error. Unlike maximum entropy method, no prior information is needed. Test-cases have shown that the spectrum is recovered for inputs with relative error as high as 1%.
The ill-posed analytic continuation problem for Green's functions or self-energies can be carried out using the Padé rational polynomial approximation. However, to extract accurate results from this approximation, high precision input data of the Matsubara Green function are needed. The calculation of the Matsubara Green function generally involves a Matsubara frequency summation, which cannot be evaluated analytically. Numerical summation is requisite but it converges slowly with the increase of the Matsubara frequency. Here we show that this slow convergence problem can be significantly improved by utilizing the Padé decomposition approach to replace the Matsubara frequency summation by a Padé frequency summation, and high precision input data can be obtained to successfully perform the Padé analytic continuation.
An outstanding problem in the simulation of condensed-matter phenomena is how to obtain dynamical information. We consider the numerical analytic continuation of imaginary-time quantum Monte Carlo data to obtain real-frequency spectral functions. This is an extremely ill-posed problem similar to the inversion of a Laplace transform. We suggest an image-reconstruction approach, which has been widely applied to data analysis in experimental research. Specifically, we apply the maximum-entropy method (ME) to the analytic continuation of quantum Monte Carlo data. We report encouraging preliminary results for the Fano-Anderson model of an impurity state in a continuum. The incorporation of additional prior information, such as sum rules and asymptotic behavior, can be expected to significantly improve results. We compare (ME) to alternative methods. We also discuss statistical error propagation for the analytic continuation problem via the likelihood function, which is independent of the choice of image-reconstruction method. This includes the sensitivity of the data to structure in the spectral function, the optimization of Monte Carlo simulations, and how to incorporate covariance in the statistical errors of the Monte Carlo method.
Analytic continuation is a critical step in quantum many-body computations, connecting imaginary-time or Matsubara Green's functions with real-frequency spectral functions, which can be directly compared to experimental results. However, because of the ill-posed nature of the analytic continuation problems, they have not been completely solved so far. In this paper, we suggest a simple, yet highly efficient method for analytic continuations of Matsubara Green's functions. This method takes advantage of barycentric rational functions to directly interpolate Matsubara Green's functions. At first, the nodes and weights of the barycentric rational functions are determined by the adaptive Antoulas-Anderson algorithm, avoiding reliance on nonconvex optimization. Next, the retarded Green's functions and the related spectral functions are evaluated by the resulting interpolants. We systematically explore the performance of this method through a series of toy models and realistic examples, comparing its accuracy and efficiency with other popular methods, such as the maximum entropy method. The benchmark results demonstrate that the new method can accurately reproduce not only continuous but also discrete spectral functions, irrespective of their positive definiteness. It works well even in the presence of intermediate noise, and outperforms traditional analytic continuation methods in computational speed. We believe that this method should stand out for its robustness against noise, broad applicability, high precision, and ultra-efficiency, offering a promising alternative to the maximum entropy method.
The ill-posed analytic continuation problem for Green's functions and self-energies is investigated by revisiting the Pad\'e approximants technique. We propose to remedy the well-known problems of the Pad\'e approximants by performing an average of several continuations, obtained by varying the number of fitted input points and Pad\'e coefficients independently. The suggested approach is then applied to several test cases, including Sm and Pr atomic self-energies, the Green's functions of the Hubbard model for a Bethe lattice and of the Haldane model for a nanoribbon, as well as two special test functions. The sensitivity to numerical noise and the dependence on the precision of the numerical libraries are analyzed in detail. The present approach is compared to a number of other techniques, i.e., the nonnegative least-squares method, the nonnegative Tikhonov method, and the maximum entropy method, and is shown to perform well for the chosen test cases. This conclusion holds even when the noise on the input data is increased to reach values typical for quantum Monte Carlo simulations. The ability of the algorithm to resolve fine structures is finally illustrated for two relevant test functions.
A new algorithm for analytic continuation of noisy quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) data from the Matsubara domain to real frequencies is proposed. Unlike the widely used maximum-entropy (MaxEnt) procedure, our method is linear with respect to input data and can therefore be applied to off-diagonal components of a thermal Green's function, or to a self-energy function. The latter possibility is used to analyze QMC results for the half-filled single-band Hubbard model on a Bethe lattice at a low temperature. Our method qualitatively resolves peaks near the inner edges of the Hubbard bands in the vicinity of a Mott transition, whereas a MaxEnt procedure does not. An existence of such structures has been clearly established before in a high-precision D-DMRG calculation by Karski et al. We also analyze a stability of the new method subject to changes of adjustable parameters.
The presence of dynamical information is a feature distinguishing a finite-temperature quantum Monte Carlo simulation from a classical one. We now discuss numerical methods for extracting this information that use techniques and concepts borrowed from an area of probability theory called Bayesian statistical inference. The use of these techniques and concepts provided a solution to the very difficult problem of analytically continuing imaginary-time Green's functions, estimated by a quantum Monte Carlo simulation, to the real-time axis. Baym and Mermin (1961) proved that a unique mapping between these functions exists. However, executing this mapping numerically, with a simulation's incomplete and noisy data, transforms the problem into one without a unique solution and thus into a problem of finding a “best” solution according to some reasonable criterion. Instead of executing the analytic continuation between imaginary- and real-time Green's functions, thereby obtaining real-time dynamics, we instead estimate the experimentally relevant spectral density function these Green's functions share. We present three “best” solutions and emphasize that making the simulation data consistent with the assumptions of the numerical approach is a key step toward finding any of these best solutions. Preliminary comments The title of this chapter, “Analytic Continuation,” is unusual in the sense that it describes the task we wish to accomplish instead of the method we use to accomplish it. If we used the name of the method, the title would be something like “Bayesian Statistical Inference Using an Entropic Prior.” A shorter title would be “The Maximum Entropy Method.”We hope by the end of the chapter the reader will agree that using the short title is perhaps too glib and the longer one has meaningful content.