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International Symposium on Lattice Field Theory (LATTICE)

Critical behavior of the Schwinger model via gauge-invariant variational uniform matrix product states

Takuya Okuda, Hirotsugu Fujii, Kohei Fujikura, Yoshio Kikukawa A, Juan Pedersen

Published May 25, 2026• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We numerically analyze the critical behaviors of the lattice Schwinger model by applying the variational uniform matrix product state (VUMPS) algorithm combined with a gauge-invariant matrix product ansatz that locally enforces the Gauss law constraint. Both the continuum and lattice versions of the Schwinger model with $\theta=\pi$ are known to exhibit first-order phase transitions for the values of the fermion mass above a critical value, where a second-order phase transition occurs. Our algorithm enables a precise determination of the critical point in the continuum theory. We further analyze the scaling in the simultaneous critical and continuum limits and confirm that the data collapse aligns with the Ising universality class with high precision.

DOI
10.22323/1.518.0042

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We study the lattice Schwinger model by combining the variational uniform matrix product state (VUMPS) algorithm with a gauge-invariant matrix product ansatz that locally enforces the Gauss law constraint. Both the continuum and lattice versions of the Schwinger model with θ = π are known to exhibit first-order phase transitions for the values of the fermion mass above a critical value, where a second-order phase transition occurs. Our algorithm enables a precise determination of the critical point in the continuum theory. We further analyze the scaling in the simultaneous critical and continuum limits and confirm that the data collapse aligns with the Ising universality class to remarkable precision.
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We study the ground-state properties of a class of Zn{\mathbb{Z}}_{n}Zn​ lattice gauge theories in 1+11+11+1 dimensions, in which the gauge fields are coupled to spinless fermionic matter. These models, stemming from discrete representations of the Weyl commutator for the U(1) group, preserve the unitary character of the minimal coupling and have, therefore, the property of formally approximating lattice quantum electrodynamics in one spatial dimension in the large-nnn limit. The numerical study of such approximated theories is important to determine their effectiveness in reproducing the main features and phenomenology of the target theory, in view of implementations of cold-atom quantum simulators of QED. In this paper, we study the cases $n=2\textdiv{}8$ by means of a DMRG code that exactly implements Gauss's law. We perform a careful scaling analysis and show that, in absence of a background field, all Zn{\mathbb{Z}}_{n}Zn​ models exhibit a phase transition which falls in the Ising universality class, with spontaneous symmetry breaking of the CPCPCP symmetry. We then perform the large-nnn limit and find that the asymptotic values of the critical parameters approach the ones obtained for the known phase transition of the zero-charge sector of the massive Schwinger model, which occurs at negative mass.
We explore the first-order phase transition in the lattice Schwinger model in the presence of a topological θ\thetaθ-term by means of the variational quantum eigensolver (VQE). Using two different fermion discretizations, Wilson and staggered fermions, we develop parametric ansatz circuits suitable for both discretizations, and compare their performance by simulating classically an ideal VQE optimization in the absence of noise. The states obtained by the classical simulation are then prepared on the IBM's superconducting quantum hardware. Applying state-of-the art error-mitigation methods, we show that the electric field density and particle number, observables which reveal the phase structure of the model, can be reliably obtained from the quantum hardware. To investigate the minimum system sizes required for a continuum extrapolation, we study the continuum limit using matrix product states, and compare our results to continuum mass perturbation theory. We demonstrate that taking the additive mass renormalization into account is vital for enhancing the precision that can be obtained with smaller system sizes. Furthermore, for the observables we investigate we observe universality, and both fermion discretizations produce the same continuum limit.
We propose an efficient variational method for Z2Z_2Z2​ lattice gauge theory based on the matrix product ansatz. The method is applied to ladder and square lattices. The Gauss law needs to be imposed on quantum states to guarantee gauge invariance when one studies gauge theory in hamiltonian formalism. On the ladder lattice, we identify gauge invariant low-lying states by evaluating expectation values of the Gauss law operator after numerical diagonalization of the gauge hamiltonian. On the square lattice, the second order phase transition is well reproduced.
Abstract We show the feasibility of tensor network solutions for lattice gauge theories in Hamiltonian formulation by applying matrix product states algorithms to the Schwinger model with zero and non-vanishing fermion mass. We introduce new techniques to compute excitations in a system with open boundary conditions, and to identify the states corresponding to low momentum and different quantum numbers in the continuum. For the ground state and both the vector and scalar mass gaps in the massive case, the MPS technique attains precisions comparable to the best results available from other techniques.