Model fermion Monte Carlo with correlated pairs. II

Faisal Etminan, Mohammad Mehdi Firoozabadi

Malvin H. Kalos

Malvin H. Kalos

The issues that prevent the development of efficient and stable algorithms for fermion Monte Carlo calculations in continuum systems are reexamined with special reference to the implications of the ``plus-minus'' symmetry. This is a property of many algorithms that use signed walkers, namely, that the dynamics are unchanged when the signs of the walkers are interchanged. Algorithms that obey this symmetry cannot exhibit the necessary stability. Specifically, estimates of the overlap with any antisymmetric test function cannot be bounded away from zero in the limit of many iterations. Within the framework of a diffusion Monte Carlo treatment of the Schr\"odinger equation, it is shown that this symmetry is easily broken for pairs of walkers while at the same time preserving the correct marginal dynamics for each member of the pair. The key is to create different classes of correlations between members of pairs and to use (at least) two distinct correlations for a pair and for the same pair with signs exchanged. The ideas are applied successfully for a class of simple model problems in two dimensions. \textcopyright{} 1996 The American Physical Society.

I. Morgenstern, Diethelm W�rtz

Mark Lingle, Alexander Volya

Pairing correlations in nuclei play a decisive role in determining nuclear drip lines, binding energies, and many collective properties. In this work a new configuration-space Monte Carlo (CSMC) method for treating nuclear pairing correlations is developed, implemented, and demonstrated. In CSMC the Hamiltonian matrix is stochastically generated in Krylov subspace, resulting in the Monte Carlo version of Lanczos-like diagonalization. The advantages of this approach over other techniques are discussed; the absence of the fermionic sign problem, probabilistic interpretation of quantum-mechanical amplitudes, and ability to handle truly large-scale problems with defined precision and error control are noteworthy merits of CSMC. The features of our CSMC approach are shown using models and realistic examples. Special attention is given to difficult limits: situations with nonconstant pairing strengths, cases with nearly degenerate excited states, limits when pairing correlations in finite systems are weak, and problems when the relevant configuration space is large.

David S. Kung