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arXiv:2406.19676 · Physical review. D/Physical review. D.

Efficient tensor network algorithms for spin foam models

Seth K. Asante, Sebastian Steinhaus

Published Nov 27, 2024• 3 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Numerical computations and methods have become increasingly crucial in the study of spin foam models across various regimes. This paper adds to this field by introducing new algorithms based on tensor network methods for computing amplitudes, focusing on topological SU(2) BF and Lorentzian Engle-Pereira-Rovelli-Livine spin foam models. By reorganizing the sums and tensors involved, vertex amplitudes are recast as a sequence of matrix contractions. This reorganization significantly reduces computational complexity and memory usage, allowing for scalable and efficient computations of the amplitudes for larger representation labels on standard consumer hardware---previously infeasible due to the computational demands of high-valent tensors. We apply these tensor network algorithms to analyze the characteristics of various vertex configurations, including Regge and vector geometries for the SU(2) BF theory, demonstrating consistent scaling behavior and differing oscillation patterns. Our benchmarks reveal substantial improvements in computational time and memory allocations, especially for large representation labels. Additionally, these tensor network methods are applicable to generic 2-complexes with multiple vertices, where we introduce partial-coherent vertex amplitudes to streamline the computations. The implementation of these algorithms is available on github for further exploration and use.

DOI
10.1103/physrevd.110.106018

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Numerical computations and methods have become increasingly crucial in the study of spin foam models across various regimes. This paper adds to this field by introducing new algorithms based on tensor network methods for computing amplitudes, focusing on topological SU(2) BF and Lorentzian Engle-Pereira-Rovelli-Livine spin foam models. By reorganizing the sums and tensors involved, vertex amplitudes are recast as a sequence of matrix contractions. This reorganization significantly reduces computational complexity and memory usage, allowing for scalable and efficient computations of the amplitudes for larger representation labels on standard consumer hardware---previously infeasible due to the computational demands of high-valent tensors. We apply these tensor network algorithms to analyze the characteristics of various vertex configurations, including Regge and vector geometries for the SU(2) BF theory, demonstrating consistent scaling behavior and differing oscillation patterns. Our benchmarks reveal substantial improvements in computational time and memory allocations, especially for large representation labels. Additionally, these tensor network methods are applicable to generic 2-complexes with multiple vertices, where we introduce partial-coherent vertex amplitudes to streamline the computations. The implementation of these algorithms is available on github for further exploration and use.
Vertex amplitudes are elementary contributions to the transition amplitudes in the spin foam models of quantum gravity. The purpose of this article is to make the first step towards computing vertex amplitudes with the use of quantum algorithms. In our studies we are focused on a vertex amplitude of 3+1 D gravity, associated with a pentagram spin network. Furthermore, all spin labels of the spin network are assumed to be equal j = 1 / 2 , which is crucial for the introduction of the intertwiner qubits. A procedure of determining modulus squares of vertex amplitudes on universal quantum computers is proposed. Utility of the approach is tested with the use of: IBM’s ibmqx4 5-qubit quantum computer, simulator of quantum computer provided by the same company and QX quantum computer simulator. Finally, values of the vertex probability are determined employing both the QX and the IBM simulators with 20-qubit quantum register and compared with analytical predictions.
Simulation of quantum systems is challenging due to the exponential size of the state space. Tensor networks provide a systematically improvable approximation for quantum states. 2D tensor networks such as Projected Entangled Pair States (PEPS) are well-suited for key classes of physical systems and quantum circuits. However, direct contraction of PEPS networks has exponential cost, while approximate algorithms require computations with large tensors. We propose new scalable algorithms and software abstractions for PEPS-based methods, accelerating the bottleneck operation of contraction and refactorization of a tensor subnetwork. We employ randomized SVD with an implicit matrix to reduce cost and memory footprint asymptotically. Further, we develop a distributed-memory PEPS library and study accuracy and efficiency of alternative algorithms for PEPS contraction and evolution on the Stampede2 supercomputer. We also simulate a popular near-term quantum algorithm, the Variational Quantum Eigensolver (VQE), and benchmark Imaginary Time Evolution (ITE), which compute ground states of Hamiltonians.
We develop a strategy for tensor network algorithms that allows to deal very efficiently with lattices of high connectivity. The basic idea is to fine grain the physical degrees of freedom, i.e., decompose them into more fundamental units which, after a suitable coarse graining, provide the original ones. Thanks to this procedure, the original lattice with high connectivity is transformed by an isometry into a simpler structure, which is easier to simulate via usual tensor network methods. In particular this enables the use of standard schemes to contract infinite 2D tensor networks-such as corner transfer matrix renormalization schemes-which are more involved on complex lattice structures. We prove the validity of our approach by numerically computing the ground-state properties of the ferromagnetic spin-1 transverse-field Ising model on the 2D triangular and 3D stacked triangular lattice, as well as of the hardcore and softcore Bose-Hubbard models on the triangular lattice. Our results are benchmarked against those obtained with other techniques, such as perturbative continuous unitary transformations and graph projected entangled pair states, showing excellent agreement and also improved performance in several regimes.
Tensor networks are a class of methods for studying many-body systems. They give a geometrical description of the internal structure of many-body states, operators, and partition functions, that can be used to implement efficient algorithms to simulate them numerically. In this thesis, after providing a very brief overview of the field, we present new tensor network methods for three different use cases. \n \nFirst, we present a new real-space renormalization group algorithm for tensor networks. Compared to existing methods, its advantages are its low computational cost, simplicity of implementation, and applicability to any network. We benchmark it on the 2D classical Ising model and find accuracy comparable with the best existing tensor network methods. Due to its simplicity and generalizability, we consider our algorithm to be an excellent candidate for implementation of real-space renormalization in higher dimensions, and discuss some of the details and the remaining challenges in 3D. \n \nSecond, we show how certain topological conformal defects of critical lattice theories can be represented as tensor networks, using the 2D classical Ising model as an example. Furthermore, we show how such tensor network descriptions, combined with a renormalization group algorithm, can be used to obtain accurate estimates of the universal properties of these defects. We also show how coarse-graining of defects can be applied to any conformal defect (i.e. not just topological ones), and yields a set of associated scaling dimensions. \n \nFinally, we leave behind the focus on renormalization group methods, and present a method for spatially resolving the overlap between two tensor network states, to obtain localized information about the similarities and differences between them. For a given region, the similarity of two states in this region can be quantified by the Uhlmann fidelity of their reduced density matrices, and we show how such fidelities can be efficiently computed in many cases when the two states are represented as tensor networks. We demonstrate the usefulness of evaluating such subsystem fidelities with three example applications: studying local quenches, comparing critical and non-critical states, and quantifying convergence in tensor network simulations.
Tensor network techniques have proved to be powerful tools that can be employed to explore the large scale dynamics of lattice systems. Nonetheless, the redundancy of degrees of freedom in lattice gauge theories (and related models) poses a challenge for standard tensor network algorithms. We accommodate for such systems by introducing an additional structure decorating the tensor network. This allows to explicitly preserve the gauge symmetry of the system under coarse graining and straightforwardly interpret the fixed point tensors. We propose and test (for models with finite Abelian groups) a coarse graining algorithm for lattice gauge theories based on decorated tensor networks. We also point out that decorated tensor networks are applicable to other models as well, where they provide the advantage to give immediate access to certain expectation values and correlation functions.
In many applications that deal with high dimensional data, it is important to not store the high dimensional object itself, but its representation in a data sparse way. This aims to reduce the storage and computational complexity. There is a general scheme for representing tensors with the help of sums of elementary tensors, where the summation structure is defined by a graph/network. This scheme allows to generalize commonly used approaches in representing a large amount of numerical data (that can be interpreted as a high dimensional object) using sums of elementary tensors. The classification does not only distinguish between elementary tensors and non-elementary tensors, but also describes the number of terms that is needed to represent an object of the tensor space. This classification is referred to as tensor network (format). This work uses the tensor network based approach and describes non-linear block Gauss-Seidel methods (ALS and DMRG) in the context of the general tensor network framework. Another contribution of the thesis is the general conversion of different tensor formats. We are able to efficiently change the underlying graph topology of a given tensor representation while using the similarities (if present) of both the original and the desired structure. This is an important feature in case only minor structural changes are required. In all approximation cases involving iterative methods, it is crucial to find and use a proper initial guess. For linear iteration schemes, a good initial guess helps to decrease the number of iteration steps that are needed to reach a certain accuracy, but it does not change the approximation result. For non-linear iteration schemes, the approximation result may depend on the initial guess. This work introduces a method to successively create an initial guess that improves some approximation results. This algorithm is based on successive rank 1 increments for the r-term format. There are still open questions about how to find the optimal tensor format for a given general problem (e.g. storage, operations, etc.). For instance in the case where a physical background is given, it might be efficient to use this knowledge to create a good network structure. There is however, no guarantee that a better (with respect to the problem) representation structure does not exist.