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arXiv:2507.05580 · Chinese Physics Letters

Tensor Network Algorithm to Solve Polaron Impurity Problems

Ruofan Chen, Lei Gu, Chu Guo

Published Sep 30, 2025• 1 citation

Abstract

Abstract The polaron problem is a very old problem in condensed matter physics that dates back to the thirties, but still remains largely unsolved today, especially when electron–electron interaction is taken into consideration. The presence of both electron–electron and electron–phonon interactions in the problem invalidates most existing numerical methods, which are either computationally too expensive or simply intractable. The continuous-time quantum Monte Carlo (CTQMC) methods could tackle this problem, but they are only effective on the imaginary-time axis. In this work, we present a method based on tensor networks and the path integral formalism to solve polaron impurity problems. As both the electron and phonon baths can be integrated out via the Feynman–Vernon influence functional in the path integral formalism, our method is free of bath discretization error. It can also flexibly work on imaginary time, Keldysh contour, and L-shaped Kadanoff contour. In addition, our method can naturally resolve several long-existing challenges: (i) non-diagonal hybridization function; (ii) measuring multi-time correlations beyond single-particle Green’s functions. We demonstrate the effectiveness and accuracy of our method with extensive numerical examples against analytic solutions, exact diagonalization, and CTQMC. We also perform full-fledged real-time calculations that have never been done before to our knowledge, which could serve as a benchmarking baseline for future method developments.

DOI: 10.1088/0256-307x/42/12/120701

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Abstract The polaron problem is a very old problem in condensed matter physics that dates back to the thirties, but still remains largely unsolved today, especially when electron–electron interaction is taken into consideration. The presence of both electron–electron and electron–phonon interactions in the problem invalidates most existing numerical methods, which are either computationally too expensive or simply intractable. The continuous-time quantum Monte Carlo (CTQMC) methods could tackle this problem, but they are only effective on the imaginary-time axis. In this work, we present a method based on tensor networks and the path integral formalism to solve polaron impurity problems. As both the electron and phonon baths can be integrated out via the Feynman–Vernon influence functional in the path integral formalism, our method is free of bath discretization error. It can also flexibly work on imaginary time, Keldysh contour, and L-shaped Kadanoff contour. In addition, our method can naturally resolve several long-existing challenges: (i) non-diagonal hybridization function; (ii) measuring multi-time correlations beyond single-particle Green’s functions. We demonstrate the effectiveness and accuracy of our method with extensive numerical examples against analytic solutions, exact diagonalization, and CTQMC. We also perform full-fledged real-time calculations that have never been done before to our knowledge, which could serve as a benchmarking baseline for future method developments.

We developed a path-integral quantum Monte Carlo-based methodology for calculation of polaron mobility in systems with electron-phonon interaction. Within the method, the current-current correlation function in both the imaginary and real time is calculated in a numerically exact way. The choice of basis for representation of the path integral enabled us to reduce the sign problem and perform real-time calculations for longer times. The DC polaron mobility was extracted by performing analytic continuation that makes use of both the real and imaginary-time data. The method was applied to the Holstein polaron model in one dimension. We obtained reliable results for the temperature dependence of the Holstein polaron mobility for interactions ranging from weak to strong and temperatures that are not too low.

An efficient continuous-time path-integral quantum Monte Carlo algorithm for the lattice polaron is presented. It is based on Feynman's integration of phonons and subsequent simulation of the resulting single-particle self-interacting system. The method is free from the finite-size and finite-time-step errors and works in any dimensionality and for any range of electron-phonon interaction. The ground-state energy and effective mass of the polaron are calculated for several models. The polaron spectrum can be measured directly by Monte Carlo, which is of general interest.

The Grassmann time-evolving matrix product operator method has shown great potential as a general-purpose quantum impurity solver, as its numerical errors can be well controlled and it is flexible to be applied on both the imaginary- and real-time axes. However, a major limitation of it is that its computational cost grows exponentially with the number of impurity flavors. In this work, we propose a multiflavor extension of it to overcome this limitation. The key insight is that to calculate multitime correlation functions on one or a few impurity flavors, one could integrate out the degrees of freedom of the rest flavors beforehand, which could greatly simplify the calculation. The idea is particularly effective for quantum impurity problems with diagonal hybridization function, i.e., each impurity flavor is coupled to an independent bath, a setting which is commonly used in the field. We demonstrate the accuracy and scalability of our method for the imaginary-time evolution of impurity problems with up to three impurity orbitals, i.e., six flavors, and benchmark our results against continuous-time quantum Monte Carlo calculations. Our method paves the way of scaling up tensor network algorithms to solve large-scale quantum impurity problems.

The basic principles behind a path integral approach to the lattice polaron are reviewed. Analytical integration of phonons reduces the problem to one self-interacting imaginary-time path, which is then simulated by Metropolis Monte Carlo. Projection operators separate states of different symmetry, which provides access to various excited states. Shifted boundary conditions in imaginary time enable calculation of the polaron mass, spectrum and density of states. Other polaron characteristics accessible by the method include the polaron energy, number of excited phonons and isotope exponent on mass. Monte Carlo updates are formulated in continuous imaginary time on infinite lattices and as such provide statistically unbiased results without finite-size and finite time-step errors. Numerical data are presented for models with short-range and long-range electron?phonon interactions.

Abstract Tensor-network-based methods are promising candidates to solve quantum impurity problems (QIP). They are free of sampling noises and the sign problem compared to state-of-the-art continuous-time quantum Monte Carlo methods. Recent progress made in tensor-network-based impurity solvers is to use the Feynman–Vernon influence functional to integrate out the bath analytically, retaining only the impurity dynamics and representing it compactly as a matrix product state. The recently proposed Grassmann time-evolving matrix product operator (GTEMPO) method is one of the representative methods in this direction. In this work, we systematically study the performance of GTEMPO in solving equilibrium QIPs at a finite temperature with a semicircular spectrum density of the bath. Our results show that its computational cost would generally increase as the temperature goes down and scale exponentially with the number of orbitals. In particular, the single-orbital Anderson impurity model can be efficiently solved with this method, for two orbitals we estimate that one could possibly reach inverse temperature β ≈ 20 if high-performance computing techniques are utilized, while beyond that only very high-temperature regimes can be reached in the current formalism. Our work paves the way to apply GTEMPO as an imaginary-time impurity solver.

The simulation of strongly correlated quantum impurity models is a significant challenge in modern condensed matter physics that has multiple important applications. Thus far, the most successful methods for approaching this challenge involve Monte Carlo techniques that accurately and reliably sample perturbative expansions to any order. However, the cost of obtaining high precision through these methods is high. Recently, tensor train decomposition techniques have been developed as an alternative to Monte Carlo integration. In this study, we apply these techniques to the single-impurity Anderson model at equilibrium by calculating the systematic expansion in power of the hybridization of the impurity with the bath. We demonstrate the performance of the method in a paradigmatic application, examining the first-order phase transition on the infinite-dimensional Bethe lattice, which can be mapped to an impurity model through dynamical mean field theory. Our results indicate that using tensor train decomposition schemes allows the calculation of finite-temperature Green's functions and thermodynamic observables with unprecedented accuracy. The methodology holds promise for future applications to frustrated multiorbital systems, using a combination of partially summed series with other techniques pioneered in diagrammatic and continuous time quantum Monte Carlo.