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arXiv:1905.13061 · Physical review. D/Physical review. D.

Tensor network formulation of two-dimensional gravity

Muhammad Asaduzzaman, Simon M. Catterall, Judah Unmuth-Yockey

Published Sep 17, 2020• 19 citations

Abstract

We show how to formulate a lattice gauge theory whose naive continuum limit corresponds to two-dimensional (Euclidean) quantum gravity including a positive cosmological constant. More precisely the resultant continuum theory corresponds to gravity in a first-order formalism in which the local frame and spin connection are treated as independent fields. Recasting this lattice theory as a tensor network allows us to study the theory at strong coupling without encountering a sign problem. In two dimensions this tensor network is exactly soluble and we show that the system has a series of critical points that occur for pure imaginary coupling and are associated with first order phase transitions. We then augment the action with a Yang-Mills term which allows us to control the lattice spacing and show how to apply the tensor renormalization group to compute the free energy and look for critical behavior. Finally we perform an analytic continuation in the gravity coupling in this extended model and show that its critical behavior in a certain scaling limit depends only on the topology of the underlying lattice. We also show how the lattice gauge theory can be naturally generalized to generate the Polyakov or Liouville action for two dimensional quantum gravity.

DOI: 10.1103/physrevd.102.054510

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We show how to formulate a lattice gauge theory whose naive continuum limit corresponds to two-dimensional (Euclidean) quantum gravity including a positive cosmological constant. More precisely the resultant continuum theory corresponds to gravity in a first-order formalism in which the local frame and spin connection are treated as independent fields. Recasting this lattice theory as a tensor network allows us to study the theory at strong coupling without encountering a sign problem. In two dimensions this tensor network is exactly soluble and we show that the system has a series of critical points that occur for pure imaginary coupling and are associated with first order phase transitions. We then augment the action with a Yang-Mills term which allows us to control the lattice spacing and show how to apply the tensor renormalization group to compute the free energy and look for critical behavior. Finally we perform an analytic continuation in the gravity coupling in this extended model and show that its critical behavior in a certain scaling limit depends only on the topology of the underlying lattice. We also show how the lattice gauge theory can be naturally generalized to generate the Polyakov or Liouville action for two dimensional quantum gravity.

We numerically simulate a non-Abelian lattice gauge theory in two spatial dimensions, with tensor networks (TN), up to intermediate sizes ( > 30 matter sites) well beyond exact diagonalization. We focus on the SU(2) Yang-Mills model in Hamiltonian formulation, with dynamical matter and minimally truncated gauge field (hardcore gluon). Thanks to the TN sign-problem-free approach, we characterize the phase diagram of the model at zero and finite baryon number as a function of the quark bare mass and color charge. At intermediate system sizes, we detect a liquid phase of quark-pair bound-state quasiparticles (baryons), whose mass is finite towards the continuum limit. Interesting phenomena arise at the transition boundary where color-electric and color-magnetic terms are maximally frustrated: For low quark masses, we see traces of potential deconfinement, while for high masses, signatures of a possible topological order. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Abstract We propose a novel tensor network representation for two-dimensional Yang–Mills theories with arbitrary compact gauge groups. In this method, tensor indices are given directly by group elements with no direct use of the character expansion. We apply the tensor renormalization group method to this tensor network for SU(2) and SU(3), and find that the free energy density and the energy density are accurately evaluated. We also show that the singular value decomposition of a tensor has a group-theoretic structure and can be associated with the character expansion.

Tensor network study of two dimensional lattice

\phi^{4}

theory

The tensor renormalization group attracts great attention as a new numerical method that is free of the sign problem. In addition to this striking feature, it also has an attractive aspect as a coarse-graining of space-time; the computational cost scales logarithmically with the space-time volume. This fact allows us to aggressively approach the thermodynamic limit. While taking this advantage, we study the critical coupling of the two dimensional

\phi^{4}

theory on large and fine lattices. We present the numerical results along with the extrapolation procedure to the continuum limit and compare them with the previous ones by Monte Carlo simulations.

On the lattice, a renormalization group (RG) flow for two-dimensional partition functions expressed as a tensor network can be obtained using the tensor network renormalization (TNR) algorithm [G. Evenbly, G. Vidal, Phys. Rev. Lett. 115 (18), 180405 (2015)]. In this work we explain how to extend TNR to field theories in the continuum. First, a short-distance length scale

1/Λ

is introduced in the continuum partition function by smearing the fields. The resulting object is still defined in the continuum but has no fluctuations at distances shorter than

1/Λ

. An infinitesimal coarse-graining step is then generated by the combined action of a

rescaling

operator

L

and a

disentangling

operator

1/Λ

that implements a quasi-local field redefinition. As demonstrated for a free boson in two dimensions, continuous TNR exactly preserves translation and rotation symmetries and can generate a proper RG flow. Moreover, from a critical fixed point of this RG flow one can then extract the conformal data of the underlying conformal field theory.

We propose a novel tensor network representation for two-dimensional Yang-Mills theories with arbitrary compact gauge groups. In this method, tensor indices are directly given by group elements with no direct use of the character expansion. We apply the tensor renormalization group method to this tensor network for

rescaling

and

SU(3)

, and find that the free energy density and the energy density are accurately evaluated. We also show that the singular value decomposition of a tensor has a group theoretic structure and can be associated with the character expansion.

We present an overview of a program to understand the low-energy physics of quantum Yang-Mills theory from a quantum-information perspective. Our setting is that of the Hamiltonian formulation of pure Yang-Mills theory in the temporal gauge on the lattice. Firstly, inspired by recent constructions for

\mathbb{Z}/2\mathbb{Z}

lattice gauge theory, in particular, Kitaev's toric code, we describe the gauge-invariant sector of Hilbert space by introducing a primitive quantum gate: the quantum parallel transporter. We then develop a non-Abelian generalization of Laplace interpolation to present an ansatz for the ground state of pure Yang-Mills theory which interpolates between the weak- and strong-coupling renormalization group fixed points. The resulting state acquires the structure of a tensor network, namely, a multiscale entanglement renormalization ansatz, and allows for the efficient computation of local observables and Wilson loops. Various refinements of the tensor network are discussed leading to several generalizations. Finally, the continuum limit of our ansatz as the lattice regulator is removed is then described. This paper is intended as an abstract for an ongoing program: there are still many open problems.