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arXiv:1907.02474 · Physical Review Research

Real-time scattering of interacting quasiparticles in quantum spin chains

Maarten Van Damme, Laurens Vanderstraeten, Jacopo De Nardis, Jutho Haegeman, Frank Verstraete

Published Jan 25, 2021• 25 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

We develop a method based on tensor networks to create localized single-particle excitations on top of strongly correlated quantum spin chains.In analogy to the problem of creating localized Wannier modes, this is achieved by optimizing the gauge freedom of momentum excitations on top of matrix product states.The corresponding wave packets propagate almost dispersionlessly.The time-dependent variational principle is used to scatter two such wave packets, and we extract the phase shift from the collision data.We also study reflection and transmission coefficients of a wave packet impinging on an impurity.

DOI
10.1103/physrevresearch.3.013078

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We develop a method based on tensor networks to create localized single-particle excitations on top of strongly correlated quantum spin chains.In analogy to the problem of creating localized Wannier modes, this is achieved by optimizing the gauge freedom of momentum excitations on top of matrix product states.The corresponding wave packets propagate almost dispersionlessly.The time-dependent variational principle is used to scatter two such wave packets, and we extract the phase shift from the collision data.We also study reflection and transmission coefficients of a wave packet impinging on an impurity.
We introduce a method for the selective preparation and detection of quasiparticle wave packets, based on creation operators that generate dressed, localized excitations on top of interacting vacua of (quasi-)one-dimensional quantum lattice theories. This method exploits maximally localized Wannier functions (MLWFs) constructed from quasiparticle bands at intermediate system sizes, enabling the construction of unitary local dressed creation operators. The algorithm allows for species-resolved wave-packet preparation and detection, enabling the separation of known quasiparticle contributions from unknown resonances. We test this approach with matrix product states (MPS) on pure hardcore Hamiltonian QCD on a ladder lattice, detecting scattering outputs and mass resonances.
Simulating the real-time dynamics of particle collisions is a promising application of quantum simulators, because classical methods such as tensor networks struggle to capture the highly entangled states generated in high-energy scattering. Realizing such simulations requires both the preparation of incoming wave packets and the detection of the outgoing scattering products. In this work, we propose protocols that address both challenges on programmable analog and digital quantum simulation platforms. Our state-preparation scheme uses a weakly coupled auxiliary qubit - or, more generally, a customized local quench - to inject a single quasiparticle with well-defined momentum. Because it relies only on conservation of energy, this scheme requires no fine-tuning or prior knowledge about particle eigenstates, making it robust against errors in calibration and implementation. The momenta of scattering products are then extracted, using only local measurements, from the interference pattern that arises when particles are reflected at the system's boundary. We validate our protocols through numerical simulations, first in a simple single-particle model and subsequently in two interacting many-body systems: a Rydberg atom chain and an Ising chain in a mixed field. We demonstrate how high-energy regimes, necessary to access inelastic scattering processes, can be reached through an adiabatic ramp, and how the wave packet shape can be optimized by spatially modulating the Hamiltonian. Finally, we show how the protocol can be generalized to systems with more than one spatial dimension. Our proposal provides a versatile approach to the quantum simulation of scattering phenomena, and is compatible with several quantum simulation platforms that are already experimentally available.
Scattering processes are a crucial ingredient for the investigation of fundamental interactions. The ever-increasing amount of data produced at particle colliders has fuelled recent progresses in the field of scattering amplitudes computation. To date, on the numerical side, the results achieved are mainly based on Monte-Carlo simulations. In this Thesis the problem is attacked with a different approach: a real-time simulation of the dynamics of a 1+1 dimensional quantum field theory is performed, exploiting the powerful tensor network methods from many-body theory. A matrix product state representation of the asymptotic input states is identified, allowing for the preparation of the initial momentum wave packets. This initial state is then evolved and we aim to compute the S-matrix elements from the knowledge of the final state. We focus on a specific fermionic U(1)-gauge model, developing a set of tools which are relevant for a broader class of 1+1 dimensional quantum field theories with global or local symmetries.
Tensor network methods have demonstrated their suitability for the study of equilibrium properties of lattice gauge theories, even close to the continuum limit. We use them in an out-of-equilibrium scenario, much less explored so far, by simulating the real-time collisions of composite mesons in the lattice Schwinger model. Constructing wave-packets of vector mesons at different incoming momenta, we observe the opening of the inelastic channel in which two heavier mesons are produced and identify the momentum threshold. To detect the products of the collision in the strong coupling regime we propose local quantitites that could be measured in current quantum simulation platforms.
We study scattering in Ising field theory (IFT) using matrix product states and the time-dependent variational principle. IFT is a one-parameter family of strongly coupled nonintegrable quantum field theories in 1 + 1 dimensions, interpolating between massive free fermion theory and Zamolodchikov's integrable massive E 8 theory. Particles in IFT may scatter either elastically or inelastically. In the postcollision wave function, particle tracks from all final-state channels occur in superposition; processes of interest can be isolated by projecting the wave function onto definite particle sectors, or by evaluating energy density correlation functions. Using numerical simulations we determine the time delay of elastic scattering and the probability of inelastic particle production as a function of collision energy. We also study the mass and width of the lightest resonance near the E 8 point in detail. Close to both the free fermion and E 8 theories, our results for both elastic and inelastic scattering are in good agreement with expectations from form-factor perturbation theory. Using numerical computations to go beyond the regime accessible by perturbation theory, we find that the high-energy behavior of the two-to-two particle scattering probability in IFT is consistent with a conjecture of Zamolodchikov. Our results demonstrate the efficacy of tensor-network methods for simulating the real-time dynamics of strongly coupled quantum field theories in 1 + 1 dimensions.
We present an extension of a framework for simulating single quasiparticle or collective excitations on top of strongly correlated quantum many-body ground states using infinite projected entangled pair states, a tensor network ansatz for two-dimensional wave functions in the thermodynamic limit. Our approach performs a systematic summation of locally perturbed states in order to obtain excited eigenstates localized in momentum space, using the corner transfer matrix method, and generalizes the framework to arbitrary unit cell sizes, the implementation of global Abelian symmetries and fermionic systems. Results for several test cases are presented, including the transverse Ising model, the spin-1/21/21/2 Heisenberg model, and a free fermionic model, to demonstrate the capability of the method to accurately capture dispersions. We also provide insight into the nature of excitations at the $k=(\ensuremath{\pi},0)$ point of the Heisenberg model.