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Opuscula Mathematica

Efficient computation of the MCTDHF approximation to the time-dependent Schrödinger equation

Othmar Koch

Published Jan 1, 2006• 3 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We discuss analytical and numerical properties of the multi-configuration time-dependent Hartree-Fock method for the approximate solution of the time-dependent multi-particle (electronic) Schrödinger equation which are relevant for an efficient implementation of this model reduction technique. Particularly, we focus on a discretization and low rank approximation in the evaluation of the meanfield terms occurring in the MCTDHF equations of motion, which is crucial for the computational tractability of the problem. We give error bounds for this approximation and demonstrate the achieved gain in performance.

DOI
10.7494/opmath.2006.26.3.483

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We discuss analytical and numerical properties of the multi-configuration time-dependent Hartree-Fock method for the approximate solution of the time-dependent multi-particle (electronic) Schrödinger equation which are relevant for an efficient implementation of this model reduction technique. Particularly, we focus on a discretization and low rank approximation in the evaluation of the meanfield terms occurring in the MCTDHF equations of motion, which is crucial for the computational tractability of the problem. We give error bounds for this approximation and demonstrate the achieved gain in performance.
Accurate descriptions of many-particle quantum systems subject to laser interactions can be found using real-time ab initio methods. Of these the arguably most popular and exact is the multi-configuration time-dependent Hartree-Fock (MCTDHF) method. However, MCTDHF suffers from computational limitations in that it quickly becomes too time consuming. The orbital-adaptive time-dependent coupled-cluster (OATDCC) method represents a hierarchy of approximations to MCTDHF that are less computationally expensive while retaining as much accuracy as possible. Building on an existing codebase we have in this thesis generalized the OATDCC method to include Q-space orbital equations. A novel ground state solver is implemented, employing adiabatic switching, since imaginary time propagation is not feasible "out of the box". Furthermore, we implement a sinc-discrete variable representation basis for one-dimensional model systems. We demonstrate that ionization and high-harmonic processes can be described using the OATDCCD method. Comparison with the more accurate, yet more expensive, multiconfigurational time-dependent Hartree-Fock method indicates that the OATDCCD method is an excellent approximation.
This contribution is devoted to the mathematical analysis of more or less sophisticated approximations of the time evolution of systems of NNN quantum particles. New results for the Multiconfiguration Time Dependent Hartree-Fock (MCTDHF) method (which cover the material of the talk given by the first author at the “Nonlinear waves conference in honor of Walter Strauss”) are summarized and compared with the simpler Hartree and Hartree-Fock equations.
We report on an implementation of the multiconfigurational time-dependent Hartree method (MCTDH) for spin-polarized fermions (MCTDHF). Our approach is based on a mapping for operators in Fock space that allows a compact and efficient application of the Hamiltonian and solution of the MCTDHF equations of motion. Our implementation extends, builds on, and exploits the recursive implementation of MCTDH for bosons (r-mctdhb) package. Together with r-mctdhb, the present implementation of MCTDHF forms the mctdh-x package. We benchmark the accuracy of the algorithm with the harmonic interaction model and a time-dependent generalization thereof. These models consider parabolically trapped particles that interact through a harmonic interaction potential. We demonstrate that MCTDHF is capable of solving the time-dependent many-fermion Schr\"odinger equation to an arbitrary degree of precision and can hence yield numerically exact results even in the case of Hamiltonians with time-dependent one-body and two-body potentials. We study the problem of two initially parabolically confined and charged fermions tunneling through a barrier to open space. We demonstrate the validity of a model proposed previously for the many-body tunneling to open space of bosonic particles with contact interactions [Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 109, 13521 (2012)]. The many-fermion tunneling can be built up from sequentially happening single-fermion tunneling processes. The characteristic momenta of these processes are determined by the chemical potentials of trapped subsystems of smaller particle numbers: The escaped fermions convert the different chemical potentials into kinetic energy. Using the two-body correlation function, we present a detailed picture of the sequentiality of the process and are able to tell tunneling from over-the-barrier escape.
The time-dependent Schrödinger equation is solved with a multiconfiguration form for the state. It is shown that the use of natural single-particle states results in a minimal number of configurations. The equations of motion of the natural single-particle states are derived by differentation with respect to time of the defining equations, which are eigenvalue equations of reduced density matrices. The method is tested on a two-dimensional model of H2 dissociation on a transition metal surface. It is shown that numerically exact solutions can be obtained. Computation times and memory requirements are less than for methods that solve the time-dependent Schrödinger equation directly.
We propose an algorithm for the numerical solution of the time-dependent Schrödinger equation for N >> 1bosons interacting via a two-body interaction potential in the mean-field scaling regime. Unlike existing numerical algorithms for quantum dynamics, the proposed algorithm has a computational complexity that is independent of the number N of particles. It is based on an ansatz for the wave function inspired by the Bogoliubov theory, which is an asymptotic theory for large N. In a first part, we follow Bogoliubov theory in evolving the condensate function by the Hartree equation, but we use the Dirac--Frenkel time-dependent variational principle to derive nonlinear equations of motion for the excitation functions in the Bogoliubov ansatz. By carefully exploiting the bosonic symmetry, the so obtained approximate wave functions are shown to have derivatives bounded independently of N apart from a time-dependent global phase factor which rotates with a frequency proportional to N. In the second part, we numerically approximate the wave function (modulo the phase) by a composite algorithm, which employs an appropriate splitting of the equations of motion and uses a dynamical low-rank approximation of the fundamental two-particle excitation function by linear combinations of products of single-particle functions. The low-rank excitation function is evolved in time by a basis update and Galerkin (BUG) integrator that is robust to small singular values of the coefficient matrix and allows for rank adaptivity. Numerical results are provided to assess the performance of the proposed algorithm.
A tractable method is presented for the study of the adiabaticity of a given time-dependent Hartree-Fock solution. In terms of the Baranger-V\'en\'eroni approach, this amounts to extracting the two operators ${\ensuremath{\rho}}_{0}$ and $\ensuremath{\chi}$, for which rather simple expressions are derived. These explicit formulas are exploited to illustrate some implications of the adiabatic approximation itself and several related approximations. In particular, the incompatibility of two current hypotheses for the $\ensuremath{\chi}$ operator (locality and absence of particle-particle, hole-hole matrix elements) is pointed out. Finally, the whole discussion is exemplified by the simple case of uniform translational motion.NUCLEAR STRUCTURE Discussion of adiabatic limit of TDHF approximation, derivation of practical method of study adiabaticity of collective motion from TDHF solutions.