We prove the statement in the title for a suitable (wavefunction-dependent) choice of the underlying orbitals and show that 3 is optimal. Thus, for two-electron systems, the quantum chemistry density matrix renormalization group (QC-DMRG) method with bond dimension 3 combined with fermionic mode optimization exactly recovers the full configuration-interaction (FCI) energy.
We prove the statement in the title for a suitable (wavefunction-dependent) choice of the underlying orbitals and show that 3 is optimal. Thus, for two-electron systems, the quantum chemistry density matrix renormalization group (QC-DMRG) method with bond dimension 3 combined with fermionic mode optimization exactly recovers the full configuration-interaction (FCI) energy.
A major challenge in molecular electronic structure theory arises from chemical systems where the mean-field picture based upon a single electronic configuration fails to properly describe mechanics of many electrons. Such complex electronic states should be accounted for using a correlated superposition of multiple determinants and are referred to as multireference in quantum chemistry. Application domain of traditional multireference methods is severely limited to systems containing a small number of correlated electrons because of their exponential complexity. In recent years, much attention has been drawn to the density matrix renormalization group (DMRG) theory as a promising alternative. It has been introduced in ab initio quantum chemistry calculations and shown to be a highly-scalable multireference method that can handle full quantum degrees of freedom for the strongly-correlated wavefunction with unprecedented large configuration space. In this article, we provide an explicative introduction to the underlying theory and formalism built into the DMRG method and give a brief overview of our methodological extensions that combine DMRG and active-space correlation models.
The density matrix renormalization group (DMRG) has an underlying variational ansatz, the matrix product state (MPS). The accuracy of this ansatz is controlled by its virtual dimension. In most applications for quantum chemistry this parameter is very large, and the high-accuracy or FCI regime is studied. With a good orbital choice and ordering, and by exploiting the symmetry group of the Hamiltonian, DMRG then allows to retrieve highly accurate results in active spaces beyond the reach of FCI [1,2]. However, DMRG can also be of use with smaller virtual dimensions. I will discuss how fundamental ideas from Hartree-Fock (HF) theory are transferable to DMRG. Both methods have a variational ansatz. The time-independent variational principle leads for HF and DMRG to a self-consistent mean-field theory in the particles and lattice sites, respectively. The time-dependent variational principle results in the random-phase approximation (RPA). RPA reveals the elementary excitations: particle and site excitations for HF and DMRG, respectively. Exponentiation of these excitations provides a nonredundant parameterization of the ansatz manifold, formulated by Thouless’ theorem. A Taylor expansion in the nonredundant parameters leads to the configuration interaction expansion [3,4]. References [1] S. Wouters, W. Poelmans, P. W. Ayers and D. Van Neck, Computer Physics Communications 185, 1501-1514 (2014). [2] S. Wouters, T. Bogaerts, P. Van Der Voort, V. Van Speybroeck and D. Van Neck, Journal of Chemical Physics 140, 241103 (2014). [3] S. Wouters, N. Nakatani, D. Van Neck and G. K.-L. Chan, Physical Review B 88, 075122 (2013). [4] N. Nakatani, S. Wouters, D. Van Neck and G. K.-L. Chan, Journal of Chemical Physics 140, 024108 (2014).
We present the density matrix renormalization group self-consistent field (DMRG-SCF) approach that is analogous to the complete active space self-consisted field (CASSCF) method but instead of using for the description of the active space the full configuration interaction (FCI) method, the DMRG-SCF uses the density matrix renormalization group (DMRG) method. The DMRG-SCF approach, similarly to CASSCF, properly describes the multiconfigurational character of the wave function but avoids the exponential scaling of the FCI method and replaces it with a polynomial scaling. Hence, calculations for a larger number of orbitals and electrons in the active space are possible since the DMRG method provides an efficient tool to automatically select from the full Hilbert space the many-body contracted basis states that are the most important for the description of the wave function.
During the past 15 years, the density matrix renormalization group (DMRG) has become increasingly important for ab initio quantum chemistry. The underlying matrix product state (MPS) ansatz is a low-rank decomposition of the full configuration interaction tensor. The virtual dimension of the MPS controls the size of the corner of the many-body Hilbert space that can be reached. Whereas the MPS ansatz will only yield an efficient description for noncritical one-dimensional systems, it can still be used as a variational ansatz for other finite-size systems. Rather large virtual dimensions are then required. The two most important aspects to reduce the corresponding computational cost are a proper choice and ordering of the active space orbitals, and the exploitation of the symmetry group of the Hamiltonian. By taking care of both aspects, DMRG becomes an efficient replacement for exact diagonalization in quantum chemistry. DMRG and Hartree-Fock theory have an analogous structure. The former can be interpreted as a self-consistent mean-field theory in the DMRG lattice sites, and the latter in the particles. It is possible to build upon this analogy to introduce post-DMRG methods. Based on an approximate MPS, these methods provide improved ansätze for the ground state, as well as for excitations. Exponentiation of the single-particle (single-site) excitations for a Slater determinant (an MPS with open boundary conditions) leads to the Thouless theorem for Hartree-Fock theory (DMRG), an explicit nonredundant parameterization of the entire manifold of Slater determinants (MPS wavefunctions). This gives rise to the configuration interaction expansion for DMRG. The Hubbard-Stratonovich transformation lies at the basis of auxiliary field quantum Monte Carlo for Slater determinants. An analogous transformation for spin-lattice Hamiltonians allows to formulate a promising variant for MPSs.
Renormalization is a powerful concept in the many-body problem. Inspired by the highly successful density matrix renormalization group (DMRG) algorithm, and the quantum chemical graphical representation of configuration space, we introduce a new theoretical tool: Hilbert space renormalization, to describe many-electron correlations. While in DMRG, the many-body states in nested Fock subspaces are successively renormalized, in Hilbert space renormalization, many-body states in nested Hilbert subspaces undergo renormalization. This provides a new way to classify and combine configurations. The underlying wavefunction Ansatz, namely, the Hilbert space matrix product state (HS-MPS), has a very rich and flexible mathematical structure. It provides low-rank tensor approximations to any configuration interaction (CI) space through restricting either the "physical indices" or the coupling rules in the HS-MPS. Alternatively, simply truncating the "virtual dimension" of the HS-MPS leads to a family of size-extensive wave function Ansätze that can be used efficiently in variational calculations. We make formal and numerical comparisons between the HS-MPS, the traditional Fock-space MPS used in DMRG, and traditional CI approximations. The analysis and results shed light on fundamental aspects of the efficient representation of many-electron wavefunctions through the renormalization of many-body states.