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Towards next-generation methods to optimize two-dimensional tensor networks: Algorithmic differentiation and applications to quantum magnets

Juraj Hašík

Published Oct 25, 2019• 3 citations
OpenAlex

Abstract

Infinite Projected entangled-pair state (iPEPS) is a two-dimensional tensor network (TN) ansatz targeting the ground states of lattice models directly in the thermodynamic limit. It is the most successful among the true two-dimensional TN methods, challenging the more common density matrix renormalization group computations conducted on a finite-width cylinders. iPEPS, being a variational method does not suffer from the infamous sign problem, and hence could be readily applied to both fermionic problems off the half-filling and frustrated spin system. Using the imaginary-time optimization, the so called Full Update, led to the celebrated results of iPEPS such as the analysis of stripes in doped t-J and Hubbard models or the insight into the magnetization plateaus in Shastry-Sutherland model. However, the physics of the continuous phase transitions from the symmetry-broken Neel phase into the valence-bond solids or spin-liquids in frustrated magnets is still eluding iPEPS. The main difficulty lies in the optimization, since Full Update is just not precise enough. In the pursuit of the best variational iPEPS states, the gradient methods were put forward in 2016 by Corboz and Vanderstraeten. However, due to their complex nature, they have not been widely adopted especially for iPEPS ansatze with larger unit cells. We will introduce an alternative approach first applied in the context of iPEPS by Liao et al., based on the well established method of Algorithmic differentiation (AD) which allows us to evaluate gradients for iPEPS in a robust and conceptually simple way. Finally, we will present the results of our investigation into the physics of frustrated magnets putting AD to work.

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Infinite Projected entangled-pair state (iPEPS) is a two-dimensional tensor network (TN) ansatz targeting the ground states of lattice models directly in the thermodynamic limit. It is the most successful among the true two-dimensional TN methods, challenging the more common density matrix renormalization group computations conducted on a finite-width cylinders. iPEPS, being a variational method does not suffer from the infamous sign problem, and hence could be readily applied to both fermionic problems off the half-filling and frustrated spin system. Using the imaginary-time optimization, the so called Full Update, led to the celebrated results of iPEPS such as the analysis of stripes in doped t-J and Hubbard models or the insight into the magnetization plateaus in Shastry-Sutherland model. However, the physics of the continuous phase transitions from the symmetry-broken Neel phase into the valence-bond solids or spin-liquids in frustrated magnets is still eluding iPEPS. The main difficulty lies in the optimization, since Full Update is just not precise enough. In the pursuit of the best variational iPEPS states, the gradient methods were put forward in 2016 by Corboz and Vanderstraeten. However, due to their complex nature, they have not been widely adopted especially for iPEPS ansatze with larger unit cells. We will introduce an alternative approach first applied in the context of iPEPS by Liao et al., based on the well established method of Algorithmic differentiation (AD) which allows us to evaluate gradients for iPEPS in a robust and conceptually simple way. Finally, we will present the results of our investigation into the physics of frustrated magnets putting AD to work.
An infinite projected entangled-pair state (iPEPS) is a powerful variational tensor network ansatz for two-dimensional ground states in the thermodynamic limit, and can be seen as a natural generalization of a matrix-product state to two dimensions. One of the main challenges in iPEPS simulations is the optimization of the tensors, i.e., finding the optimal variational parameters, in order to have the best representation of the ground state of a given Hamiltonian. The author presents a variational optimization scheme, in which the energy is minimized in an iterative way by sweeping over all the tensors in the ansatz, in a similar spirit as done in the density-matrix renormalization group method. Benchmark results for challenging problems are presented that show that the variational scheme yields considerably more accurate results than the previously best imaginary-time evolution algorithm, with a similar computational cost and with a faster convergence towards the ground state.
The recent progress in the optimization of two-dimensional tensor networks [H.-J. Liao, J.-G. Liu, L. Wang, and T. Xiang, Phys. Rev. X 9, 031041 (2019)] based on automatic differentiation opened the way towards precise and fast optimization of such states and, in particular, infinite projected entangled-pair states (iPEPS) that constitute a generic-purpose Ansatz for lattice problems governed by local Hamiltonians. In this work, we perform an extensive study of a paradigmatic model of frustrated magnetism, the J_1-J_2 J 1 − J 2 Heisenberg antiferromagnet on the square lattice. By using advances in both optimization and subsequent data analysis, through finite correlation-length scaling, we report accurate estimations of the magnetization curve in the N'eel phase for J_2/J_1 \le 0.45 J 2 / J 1 ≤ 0.45 . The unrestricted iPEPS simulations reveal an U(1) U ( 1 ) symmetric structure, which we identify and impose on tensors, resulting in a clean and consistent picture of antiferromagnetic order vanishing at the phase transition with a quantum paramagnet at J_2/J_1 \approx 0.46(1) J 2 / J 1 ≈ 0.46 ( 1 ) . The present methodology can be extended beyond this model to study generic order-to-disorder transitions in magnetic systems.
An infinite projected entangled-pair state (iPEPS) is a variational tensor network ansatz for two-dimensional wave functions in the thermodynamic limit where the accuracy can be systematically controlled by the bond dimension DDD. We show that for the doped Hubbard model in the strongly correlated regime (U/t=8,n=0.875)(U/t=8,n=0.875)(U/t=8,n=0.875) the iPEPS yields lower variational energies than state-of-the-art variational methods in the large two-dimensional limit, which demonstrates the competitiveness of the method. In order to obtain an accurate estimate of the energy in the exact infinite-DDD limit we introduce and test an extrapolation technique based on a truncation error computed in the iPEPS imaginary time evolution algorithm. The extrapolated energies are compared with accurate quantum Monte Carlo results at half-filling and with various other methods in the doped, strongly correlated regime.
Infinite projected entangled-pair states (iPEPS) have been introduced to accurately describe many-body wave functions on two-dimensional lattices. In this context, two aspects are crucial: the systematic improvement of the Ansatz by the optimization of its building blocks, i.e., tensors characterized by bond dimension DDD, and the extrapolation scheme to reach the ``thermodynamic'' limit $D\ensuremath{\rightarrow}\ensuremath{\infty}$. Recent advances in variational optimization and scaling based on correlation lengths demonstrated the ability of iPEPS to capture phases with spontaneously broken continuous symmetry such as the antiferromagnetic (N\'eel) one with high fidelity, in addition to valence-bond solids which are already well described by finite-DDD iPEPS. In contrast, systems in the vicinity of continuous quantum phase transitions still present a challenge for iPEPS, especially when non-Abelian symmetries are involved. Here, we consider the iPEPS Ansatz to describe the continuous transition between the (gapless) antiferromagnet and the (gapped) paramagnet that exists in the S=1/2S=1/2S=1/2 Heisenberg model on coupled two-leg ladders. In particular, we show how accurate iPEPS results can be obtained down to a narrow interval around criticality and analyze the scaling of the order parameter in the N\'eel phase in a spatially anisotropic situation.
Tensor networks capture large classes of ground states of phases of quantum matter faithfully and efficiently. Their manipulation and contraction has remained a challenge over the years, however. For most of the history, ground state simulations of two-dimensional quantum lattice systems using (infinite) projected entangled pair states have relied on what is called a time-evolving block decimation. In recent years, multiple proposals for the variational optimization of the quantum state have been put forward, overcoming accuracy and convergence problems of previously known methods. The incorporation of automatic differentiation in tensor networks algorithms has ultimately enabled a new, flexible way for variational simulation of ground states and excited states. In this work we review the state-of-the-art of the variational iPEPS framework, providing a detailed introduction to automatic differentiation, a description of a general foundation into which various two-dimensional lattices can be conveniently incorporated, and demonstrative benchmarking results.
The infinite projected entangled pair states (iPEPS) technique [J. Jordan et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 101, 250602 (2008)] has been widely used in the recent years to assess the properties of two-dimensional quantum systems, working directly in the thermodynamic limit. This formalism, which is based upon a tensor-network representation of the ground-state wave function, has several appealing features, e.g., encoding the so-called area law of entanglement entropy by construction; still, the method presents critical issues when dealing with the optimization of tensors in order to find the best possible approximation to the exact ground state of a given Hamiltonian. Here, we discuss the obstacles that arise in the optimization by imaginary-time evolution within the so-called simple and full updates and connect them to the emergence of a sharp multiplet structure in the ``virtual'' indices of tensors. In this case, a generic choice of the bond dimension DDD is not compatible with the multiplets and leads to a symmetry breaking (e.g., generating a finite magnetic order). In addition, varying the initial guess, different final states may be reached, with very large deviations in the magnetization value. In order to exemplify this behavior, we show the results of the S=1/2S=1/2S=1/2 Heisenberg model on an array of coupled ladders, for which a vanishing magnetization below the critical interladder coupling is recovered only for selected values of DDD, while a blind optimization with a generic DDD gives rise to a finite magnetization down to the limit of decoupled ladders.