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Bulletin of the American Physical Society

Variational optimization in the AI era: supervised wave-function optimization and computational graph states.

Dmitrii Kochkov, Bryan K. Clark

Published Mar 5, 2019• 1 citation
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Variational optimization in the AI era

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Bulletin of the American Physical Society•Mar 5, 2020•0 citations

Variational optimization in the AI era: Computational Graph States and Supervised Wave-function Optimization

Dmitrii Kochkov, Bryan K. Clark

Representing a target quantum state by a compact, efficient variational wave-function is an important approach to the quantum many-body problem. In this approach, the main challenges include the design of a suitable variational ansatz and optimization of its parameters. In this work, we address both of these challenges. First, we define the variational class of Computational Graph States (CGS) which gives a uniform framework for describing all computable variational ansatz. Secondly, we develop a novel optimization scheme, supervised wave-function optimization (SWO), which systematically improves the optimized wave-function by drawing on ideas from supervised learning. While SWO can be used independently of CGS, utilizing them together provides a flexible framework for the rapid design, prototyping and optimization of variational wave-functions. We demonstrate CGS and SWO by optimizing for the ground state wave-function of 1D and 2D Heisenberg models on nine different variational architectures including architectures not previously used to represent quantum many-body wave-functions and find they are energetically competitive to other approaches. One interesting application of this architectural exploration is that we show that fully convolution neural network wave-functions can be optimized for one system size and, using identical parameters, produce accurate energies for a range of system sizes. We expect these methods to increase the rate of discovery of novel variational ansatz and bring further insights to the quantum many body problem.

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On numerical methods in quantum spin systems

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This thesis is focused on the application and development of numerical methods for studying quantum many- body spin systems. Part I sets the stage for research projects. In chapter 1, I go over major milestones in the field of frustrated magnetism, how it fits into a larger category of condensed matter physics, and recent developments that provide context for the research projects presented in part II. Chapters 2 3 provide the reader with necessary concepts in physics of phase transitions and numerical methods that are often employed when studying ground states of quantum many body systems. Part II focuses on the research projects carried out during my PhD research. In chapter 4 I present a machine-learning inspired method for solving quantum many body problems. This method addresses issues of representation of variational wave functions and their optimization. In chapter 5, I present a numerical study on the embedding of an exactly solvable point in a phase diagram of an extended Heisenberg model on a kagome lattice. Chapter 6 studies a quantum Heisenberg model on the stuffed honeycomb lattice. Phase transitions in quantum many body systems manifest themselves as a reorganization of low energy spectra of the system. They come in a variety of forms ranging from symmetry breaking transitions, where a local order parameter is formed and to topological phase transitions where the change of the ground state can be attributed to non-local changes in the entanglement patterns. In chapter 2, I review classic models studied in the context of frustrated magnetism and briefly go over the formulation of Landau symmetry breaking theory and common order parameters. The breakdown of Landau symmetry-breaking theory for topological phase transition is discussed using the example of Resonance Valence Bond (RVB) state, which serves as a qualitative exemplification of spin liquid phases. I discuss means of detecting phase transitions with a focus on methods that are applicable in a numerical setting. Chapter 3 presents elements of the numerical machinery that the rest of the thesis employs and builds upon. I discuss traditional trade-offs and provide rough metrics used for analysis of strengths and drawbacks of different approaches. Then I focus on Exact Diagonalization (ED) and Variational Monte Carlo (VMC) methods that are used in later chapters. In chapter 4, I describe the application of machine learning techniques to the variational approach to the quantum many body problem. I introduce Computational Graph States (CGS), a new class of variational wave functions based on the dataflow programming paradigm. The use of computational graphs makes composing new wave functions easy due to its modular structure. Automatic differentiation allows us to obtain efficient derivatives with respect to variational parameters automatically. We also develop a novel optimization scheme, Supervised Wave-function Optimization. It combines ideas of supervised learning and imaginary time evolution. Our method resolves a number of technical challenges and allows seamless optimization of complicated variational models. During the exploration process we constructed a new class of system size invariant model wave functions that can be trained on one system size and generalized to other system sizes with high accuracy. In chapter 5, we study the phase diagram of the kagome antiferromagnet in the J2, Jz plane, which corresponds to second nearest neighbor interactions and spin anisotropy. We report an exactly solvable point with macroscopic degeneracy at J2 = 0, Jz = −0.5 and show that many phases emanate from around this point. In addition, we find a previously unknown transition within the spin-liquid region suggesting a possibility of two distinct spin liquids. In chapter 6, we consider a Heisenberg model on the stuffed honeycomb lattice which interpolated between the triangular and honeycomb lattices. Using exact diagonalization we compute the phase diagram of this model. We find that for this model, the triangular lattice J1-J2 spin liquid region is extended to a larger domain that has lower symmetries than that of the triangular lattice. We perform a variational study of projected BCS wave functions which we directly compare to exact ground states on 36 site cluster as well as consider variational energies from larger system sizes. We argue that construction of symmetric states is essential to obtain good variational energies and give evidence that Dirac spin-liquid state is likely to characterize the spin liquid phase.

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Representing a target quantum state by a compact, efficient variational wave-function is an important approach to the quantum many-body problem. In this approach, the main challenges include the design of a suitable variational ansatz and optimization of its parameters. In this work, we address both of these challenges. First, we define the variational class of Computational Graph States (CGS) which gives a uniform framework for describing all computable variational ansatz. Secondly, we develop a novel optimization scheme, supervised wave-function optimization (SWO), which systematically improves the optimized wave-function by drawing on ideas from supervised learning. While SWO can be used independently of CGS, utilizing them together provides a flexible framework for the rapid design, prototyping and optimization of variational wave-functions. We demonstrate CGS and SWO by optimizing for the ground state wave-function of 1D and 2D Heisenberg models on nine different variational architectures including architectures not previously used to represent quantum many-body wave-functions and find they are energetically competitive to other approaches. One interesting application of this architectural exploration is that we show that fully convolution neural network wave-functions can be optimized for one system size and, using identical parameters, produce accurate energies for a range of system sizes. We expect these methods to increase the rate of discovery of novel variational ansatz and bring further insights to the quantum many body problem.
This thesis is focused on the application and development of numerical methods for studying quantum many- body spin systems. Part I sets the stage for research projects. In chapter 1, I go over major milestones in the field of frustrated magnetism, how it fits into a larger category of condensed matter physics, and recent developments that provide context for the research projects presented in part II. Chapters 2 3 provide the reader with necessary concepts in physics of phase transitions and numerical methods that are often employed when studying ground states of quantum many body systems. Part II focuses on the research projects carried out during my PhD research. In chapter 4 I present a machine-learning inspired method for solving quantum many body problems. This method addresses issues of representation of variational wave functions and their optimization. In chapter 5, I present a numerical study on the embedding of an exactly solvable point in a phase diagram of an extended Heisenberg model on a kagome lattice. Chapter 6 studies a quantum Heisenberg model on the stuffed honeycomb lattice. Phase transitions in quantum many body systems manifest themselves as a reorganization of low energy spectra of the system. They come in a variety of forms ranging from symmetry breaking transitions, where a local order parameter is formed and to topological phase transitions where the change of the ground state can be attributed to non-local changes in the entanglement patterns. In chapter 2, I review classic models studied in the context of frustrated magnetism and briefly go over the formulation of Landau symmetry breaking theory and common order parameters. The breakdown of Landau symmetry-breaking theory for topological phase transition is discussed using the example of Resonance Valence Bond (RVB) state, which serves as a qualitative exemplification of spin liquid phases. I discuss means of detecting phase transitions with a focus on methods that are applicable in a numerical setting. Chapter 3 presents elements of the numerical machinery that the rest of the thesis employs and builds upon. I discuss traditional trade-offs and provide rough metrics used for analysis of strengths and drawbacks of different approaches. Then I focus on Exact Diagonalization (ED) and Variational Monte Carlo (VMC) methods that are used in later chapters. In chapter 4, I describe the application of machine learning techniques to the variational approach to the quantum many body problem. I introduce Computational Graph States (CGS), a new class of variational wave functions based on the dataflow programming paradigm. The use of computational graphs makes composing new wave functions easy due to its modular structure. Automatic differentiation allows us to obtain efficient derivatives with respect to variational parameters automatically. We also develop a novel optimization scheme, Supervised Wave-function Optimization. It combines ideas of supervised learning and imaginary time evolution. Our method resolves a number of technical challenges and allows seamless optimization of complicated variational models. During the exploration process we constructed a new class of system size invariant model wave functions that can be trained on one system size and generalized to other system sizes with high accuracy. In chapter 5, we study the phase diagram of the kagome antiferromagnet in the J2, Jz plane, which corresponds to second nearest neighbor interactions and spin anisotropy. We report an exactly solvable point with macroscopic degeneracy at J2 = 0, Jz = −0.5 and show that many phases emanate from around this point. In addition, we find a previously unknown transition within the spin-liquid region suggesting a possibility of two distinct spin liquids. In chapter 6, we consider a Heisenberg model on the stuffed honeycomb lattice which interpolated between the triangular and honeycomb lattices. Using exact diagonalization we compute the phase diagram of this model. We find that for this model, the triangular lattice J1-J2 spin liquid region is extended to a larger domain that has lower symmetries than that of the triangular lattice. We perform a variational study of projected BCS wave functions which we directly compare to exact ground states on 36 site cluster as well as consider variational energies from larger system sizes. We argue that construction of symmetric states is essential to obtain good variational energies and give evidence that Dirac spin-liquid state is likely to characterize the spin liquid phase.
The recent interest in learning-augmented algorithms has motivated us to explore their applicability in quantum computing, specifically during the noisy intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) era. This paper introduces a learning-augmented algorithm-like approach to enhance the Quantum Approximate Optimization Algorithm (QAOA) for max-cut problems, by improving initial parameter estimation. We trained a random forest regression model on the optimal solution parameters from various max-cut graphs, and then used this model to guess better initial parameters for previously unseen graphs. Experimental results demonstrate that our approach reduces the number of iterations of quantum computation required, thereby reducing noise and error. These findings indicate that integrating learning-augmented algorithm techniques can enhance the computational feasibility of solving QAOA problems in the NISQ era.