The field of tensor networks, kicked off in 1992 by Steve White's invention of the spectacularly successful density matrix renormalization group (DMRG) algorithm, has exploded in popularity in recent years. Tensor networks are poised to play a role in helping us solve some of the greatest open physics problems of our time, such as understanding the nature of high-temperature superconductivity and illuminating a theory of quantum gravity. DMRG and extensions based on a class of variational states known as tensor network states have been indispensable tools in helping us understand both numerically and theoretically the properties of complicated classical and quantum many-body systems. However, practical challenges to these techniques still remain, and algorithmic developments are needed before tensor network algorithms can be applied to more physics problems. In this thesis we present a variety of recent advancements to tensor network algorithms. First we describe a DMRG-like algorithm for noninteracting fermions. Noninteracting fermions, naturally being gapless and therefore having high levels of entanglement, are actually a challenging setting for standard DMRG algorithms, and we believe this new algorithm can help with tensor network calculations in that setting. Next we explain a new algorithm called the variational uniform matrix product state (VUMPS) algorithm that is a DMRG-like algorithm that works directly in the thermodynamic limit, improving upon currently available MPS-based methods for studying infinite 1D and quasi-1D quantum many-body systems. Finally, we describe a variety of improvements to algorithms for contracting 2D tensor networks, a common problem in tensor network algorithms, for example for studying 2D classical statistical mechanics problems and 2D quantum many-body problems with projected entangled pair states (PEPS). One is a new variant of the corner transfer matrix renormalization group (CTMRG) algorithm of Nishino and Okunishi that improves the numerical stability for contracting asymmetric two-dimensional tensor networks compared to the most commonly used method. Another is the application of the VUMPS algorithm to contracting 2D tensor networks. The last is a new alternative to CTMRG, where the tensors are solved for with eigenvalue equations instead of a power method, which we call the fixed point corner method (FPCM). We present results showing the transfer matrix VUMPS algorithm and FPCM significantly improve upon the convergence time of CTMRG. We expect these algorithms will play an important role in expanding the set of 2D classical and 2D quantum many-body problems that can be addressed with tensor networks.
The field of tensor networks, kicked off in 1992 by Steve White's invention of the spectacularly successful density matrix renormalization group (DMRG) algorithm, has exploded in popularity in recent years. Tensor networks are poised to play a role in helping us solve some of the greatest open physics problems of our time, such as understanding the nature of high-temperature superconductivity and illuminating a theory of quantum gravity. DMRG and extensions based on a class of variational states known as tensor network states have been indispensable tools in helping us understand both numerically and theoretically the properties of complicated classical and quantum many-body systems. However, practical challenges to these techniques still remain, and algorithmic developments are needed before tensor network algorithms can be applied to more physics problems. In this thesis we present a variety of recent advancements to tensor network algorithms. First we describe a DMRG-like algorithm for noninteracting fermions. Noninteracting fermions, naturally being gapless and therefore having high levels of entanglement, are actually a challenging setting for standard DMRG algorithms, and we believe this new algorithm can help with tensor network calculations in that setting. Next we explain a new algorithm called the variational uniform matrix product state (VUMPS) algorithm that is a DMRG-like algorithm that works directly in the thermodynamic limit, improving upon currently available MPS-based methods for studying infinite 1D and quasi-1D quantum many-body systems. Finally, we describe a variety of improvements to algorithms for contracting 2D tensor networks, a common problem in tensor network algorithms, for example for studying 2D classical statistical mechanics problems and 2D quantum many-body problems with projected entangled pair states (PEPS). One is a new variant of the corner transfer matrix renormalization group (CTMRG) algorithm of Nishino and Okunishi that improves the numerical stability for contracting asymmetric two-dimensional tensor networks compared to the most commonly used method. Another is the application of the VUMPS algorithm to contracting 2D tensor networks. The last is a new alternative to CTMRG, where the tensors are solved for with eigenvalue equations instead of a power method, which we call the fixed point corner method (FPCM). We present results showing the transfer matrix VUMPS algorithm and FPCM significantly improve upon the convergence time of CTMRG. We expect these algorithms will play an important role in expanding the set of 2D classical and 2D quantum many-body problems that can be addressed with tensor networks.
We revisit the corner transfer matrix renormalization group (CTMRG) method of Nishino and Okunishi for contracting two-dimensional (2D) tensor networks and demonstrate that its performance can be substantially improved by determining the tensors using an eigenvalue solver as opposed to the power method used in CTMRG. We also generalize the variational uniform matrix product state (VUMPS) ansatz for diagonalizing 1D quantum Hamiltonians to the case of 2D transfer matrices and discuss similarities with the corner methods. These two new algorithms will be crucial to improving the performance of variational infinite projected entangled pair state (PEPS) methods.
Tensor networks (TNs) have become one of the most essential building blocks for various fields of theoretical physics such as condensed matter theory, statistical mechanics, quantum information, and quantum gravity. This review provides a unified description of a series of developments in the TN from the statistical mechanics side. In particular, we begin with the variational principle for the transfer matrix of the 2D Ising model, which naturally leads us to the matrix product state (MPS) and the corner transfer matrix (CTM). We then explain how the CTM can be evolved to such MPS-based approaches as density matrix renormalization group (DMRG) and infinite time-evolved block decimation. We also elucidate that the finite-size DMRG played an intrinsic role for incorporating various quantum information concepts in subsequent developments in the TN. After surveying higher-dimensional generalizations like tensor product states or projected entangled pair states, we describe tensor renormalization groups (TRGs), which are a fusion of TNs and Kadanoff-Wilson type real-space renormalization groups, focusing on their fixed point structures. We then discuss how the difficulty in TRGs for critical systems can be overcome in the tensor network renormalization and the multi-scale entanglement renormalization ansatz.
Strongly correlated quantum systems are one of the most interesting and challenging phenomena in modern condensed matter physics. Unfortunately, the theoretical access even to their low energy properties is limited by the exponential growth of the Hilbert space in a many-body setting. To mitigate this computational barrier, tensor network methods are one of the most competitive approaches to classically simulate complex quantum systems. In this thesis we will discuss recent developments in the field of tensor networks to efficiently and accurately simulate two-dimensional quantum many-body states in the thermodynamic limit. Hereby, we introduce the variational update globally optimizing the wave-function, encoded as tensor network in the form of an infinite projected entangled pair state (iPEPS), in order to obtain ground states of many-body Hamiltonian models. We focus in the discussion on the well-established method to approximately contract this two-dimensional structure, the corner transfer matrix renormalization group (CTMRG), and discuss its native application on square lattice and triangular lattice based models. Furthermore, we report the development of a refined numerical algorithm, the split-CTMRG, to significantly reduce its computational complexity, pushing the limits of feasible simulations within modern hardware capabilities. Finally, the method advancements are applied to a currently widely studied model of frustrated magnetism, the Heisenberg maple-leaf antiferromagnet. We are able to find a large phase of vanishing magnetization in contradiction to previous works and, to the best of our knowledge, the lowest reported variational ground state energy at the isotropic point of the model. As an outlook, we describe a potential adaption of the previously developed methods to variationally simulate two-dimensional many-body thermal states.
Tensor network (TN), a young mathematical tool of high vitality and great potential, has been undergoing extremely rapid developments in the last two decades, gaining tremendous success in condensed matter physics, atomic physics, quantum information science, statistical physics, and so on. In this lecture notes, we focus on the contraction algorithms of TN as well as some of the applications to the simulations of quantum many-body systems. Starting from basic concepts and definitions, we first explain the relations between TN and physical problems, including the TN representations of classical partition functions, quantum many-body states (by matrix product state, tree TN, and projected entangled pair state), time evolution simulations, etc. These problems, which are challenging to solve, can be transformed to TN contraction problems. We present then several paradigm algorithms based on the ideas of the numerical renormalization group and/or boundary states, including density matrix renormalization group, time-evolving block decimation, coarse-graining/corner tensor renormalization group, and several distinguished variational algorithms. Finally, we revisit the TN approaches from the perspective of multi-linear algebra (also known as tensor algebra or tensor decompositions) and quantum simulation. Despite the apparent differences in the ideas and strategies of different TN algorithms, we aim at revealing the underlying relations and resemblances in order to present a systematic picture to understand the TN contraction approaches.
The concept of the corner transfer matrix (CTM) was first discovered by Baxter in 1968, when he derived a set of variational matrix equations, which for finite matrix sizes, could be numerically solved to obtain a sequence of approximations for the statistical mechanical properties of a system of monomers and dimers on a rectangular lattice [1]. It was not until 1978, however, in a seminal paper entitled "Variational Approximations for Square Lattice Models in Statistical Mechanics" [4], that Baxter outlined his CTM variational method, which brought to light the potential power of the former objects to obtain numerics and series expansions for unsolved models and to calculate the order parameter of solved ones. Subsequent numerical work led to the realisation that the method, though general, was not very efficient; and increasing efficiency required making model specific modifications, which restricted the transferability of the resulting algorithm to other models. The CTM variational method was thus not widely adopted, despite holding much promise. More recently, however, Nishino and Okunishi discovered that White's density matrix renormalisation group (DMRG) algorithm [55, 56] could be efficiently extended to study two-dimensional classical lattice models, if the density matrix was approximated by Baxters CTMs. Numerical tests of their algorithm, the corner transfer matrix renormalisation group (CTMRG) method, were met with much success. Notable among these is its implementation within the infinite projected entangled-pair states (iPEPS) algorithm of Orus and Vidal to simulate the ground state of infinite two-dimensional quantum systems. In this thesis we review CTM derived variational methods: Baxter's original CTM iterative method, and developments of the CTM concept within the DMRG algorithm by Nishino and Okunishi, which led to the CTMRG method to calculate critical phenomena of classical and quantum systems. This will begin with elucidating the theoretical formalisms of both methods in two dimensions and their generalisations to three dimensions; followed by review of important application, namely, within the iPEPS algorithm of Orus and Vidal to numerically study infinite planar quantum systems.
The study of interacting quantum many-body systems is one of the central challenges in modern physics. Interestingly, by understanding the physical properties of such systems from a microscopic description, one can explain many complex quantum phenomena such as the high-temperature superconductivity, fractional quantum Hall effect, etc. However, due to high complexity of these systems, theoretical investigations such as analytical and perturbation theories are limited to studying only a small subset of problems. In the past few decades, numerical simulation has emerged as an indispensable method for studying many phenomena, and has led to immense success and progress in recent years. The main obstacle in addressing quantum many-body systems is that the number of parameters required to represent a state of the system scales exponentially with the system size. However, one hardly needs the full Hilbert space but only a small subspace to describe physical properties of the system. From the point of view in quantum information theory, quantum entanglement is one of the main factors that is responsible for the complexity of studying quantum many-body systems. In particular, the amount of quantum entanglement in such system quantifies the correlation between constituents and therefore it determines how big the subspace is required to represent the system. In this thesis, we are interested in using tensor network states, a new emerging numerical technique to study dynamical and ground state properties of the system. The key ingredient is that a tensor network state which consists of a fairly small number of parameters can represent very well the complete wave function of a system. In one spatial dimension, Matrix Product State (MPS) has become a standard tool, combined with related algorithms such as Time Evolving Block Decimation algorithm (TEBD) to study dynamical properties of a locally-perturbed quantum lattice system. In this thesis, we introduce a technique called ``infinite boundary conditions'' that allows us to use a finite-size MPS to represent the state of an infinite-size system. As a result, one can simulate dynamics of a system for a longer time with a significant computational cost reduction compared to traditional methods. In two spatial dimensions, the tensor network known as Projected Entangled Pair States (PEPS) is emerging as a useful approach. However algorithms for optimizing the matrix elements of these tensors are complex and not very efficient. In particular, the efficiency of the optimization depends critically on the quality of the so-called ``environment'', which is expensive to compute. We have introduced a new method to accelerate the convergence of calculating the PEPS ground state by recycling the environment tensors for many optimization steps, vastly reducing the number of times that the full environment needs to be calculated.