Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

Wave function theories for finite-temperature electronic structure

Gaurav Harsha

Published Nov 30, 2021• 0 citations
OpenAlex

Abstract

Wave function methods have offered a robust, systematically improvable means to study the ground-state properties in quantum many-body systems. Theories like coupled cluster and their derivatives provide highly accurate approximations to the energy landscape at a reasonable computational cost. Analogs of such methods to study thermal properties, though highly desirable, have been lacking because evaluating thermal properties involve a trace over the entire Hilbert space. Approximating every state in the Hilbert space is an impossible task. Besides, excited-state theories are not as well studied as ground-state ones. In this thesis, we overcome these difficulties by employing thermofield dynamics, a theory that allows the purification of the ensemble density matrix and constructs a pure wave function that encodes the equilibrium thermal behavior of the system. Ensemble averages become expectation values over this so-called thermal state. Around this thermal state, we develop a framework to extend ground-state wave function theories to non-zero temperatures. We discuss explicit formulations of mean-field, configuration interaction, and coupled cluster theories for thermal properties of fermions in the grand canonical ensemble. For fermions in the canonical ensemble, we present mean-field, configuration interaction, and perturbation theories. We also discuss thermal mean-field, configuration interaction, and coupled cluster formalisms for \SU systems. To assess the quality of these approximations, we study both model and small atomic and molecular as benchmark electronic problems while comparing against exact results. For spins, we use the Lipkin-Meshkov-Glick and the one-dimensional transverse field Ising models as our reference systems. Indeed, the thermal methods perform reasonably well while merely adding a prefactor to the computational cost. They also inherit all the properties, good or bad, from their ground-state counterparts, signifying the robustness of our formalism.

Related papers

Thermofield Theory for Finite-Temperature Electronic Structure

Gaurav Harsha, Thomas M. Henderson, Gustavo E. Scuseria

Wave function methods have offered a robust, systematically improvable means to study ground-state properties in quantum many-body systems. Theories like coupled cluster and their derivatives provide highly accurate approximations to the energy landscape at a reasonable computational cost. Analogues of such methods to study thermal properties, though highly desirable, have been lacking because evaluating thermal properties involve a trace over the entire Hilbert space, which is a formidable task. Besides, excited-state theories are generally not as well studied as ground-state ones. In this mini-review, we present an overview of a finite-temperature wave function formalism based on thermofield dynamics to overcome these difficulties. Thermofield dynamics allows us to map the equilibrium thermal density matrix to a pure state, i.e., a single wave function, albeit in an expanded Hilbert space. Ensemble averages become expectation values over this so-called thermal state. Around this thermal state, we have developed a procedure to generalize ground-state wave function theories to finite temperatures. As explicit examples, we highlight formulations of mean-field, configuration interaction, and coupled cluster theories for thermal properties of Fermions in the grand-canonical ensemble. To assess the quality of these approximations, we also show benchmark studies for the one-dimensional Hubbard model, while comparing against exact results. We will see that the thermal methods perform similarly to their ground-state counterparts, while merely adding a prefactor to the asymptotic computational cost. They also inherit all the properties, good or bad, from the ground-state methods, signifying the robustness of our formalism and the scope for future development.

arXiv:2303.12318•The Journal of Physical Chemistry A•Apr 5, 2023•10 citations

Thermofield Theory for Finite-Temperature Coupled Cluster

Gaurav Harsha, Thomas M. Henderson, Gustavo E. Scuseria

We present a coupled cluster and linear response theory to compute properties of many-electron systems at nonzero temperatures. For this purpose, we make use of the thermofield dynamics, which allows for a compact wave function representation of the thermal density matrix, and extend our recently developed framework ( J. Chem. Phys. 2019, 150, 154109, DOI: 10.1063/1.5089560 ) to parametrize the so-called thermal state using an exponential ansatz with cluster operators that create thermal quasiparticle excitations on a mean-field reference. As benchmark examples, we apply this method to both model (one-dimensional Hubbard and Pairing) and ab initio (atomic Beryllium and molecular Hydrogen) systems, while comparing with exact results.

arXiv:1907.11286•Journal of Chemical Theory and Computation•Sep 19, 2019•46 citations

Wave function methods for canonical ensemble thermal averages in correlated many-fermion systems

Gaurav Harsha, Thomas M. Henderson, Gustavo E. Scuseria

We present a wave function representation for the canonical ensemble thermal density matrix by projecting the thermofield double state against the desired number of particles. The resulting canonical thermal state obeys an imaginary-time evolution equation. Starting with the mean-field approximation, where the canonical thermal state becomes an antisymmetrized geminal power (AGP) wave function, we explore two different schemes to add correlation: by number-projecting a correlated grand-canonical thermal state and by adding correlation to the number-projected mean-field state. As benchmark examples, we use number-projected configuration interaction and an AGP-based perturbation theory to study the hydrogen molecule in a minimal basis and the six-site Hubbard model.

arXiv:2007.11702•The Journal of Chemical Physics•Sep 28, 2020•22 citations

Thermal coupled cluster theory for SU(2) systems

Gaurav Harsha, Yi Xu, Thomas M. Henderson +1 more

Coupled cluster (CC) has established itself as a powerful theory to study correlated quantum many-body systems. Finite-temperature generalizations of CC theory have attracted considerable interest and have been shown to work as nicely as the ground-state theory. However, most of these recent developments address only fermionic or bosonic systems. The distinct structure of the $su(2)$ algebra requires the development of a similar thermal CC theory for spin degrees of freedom. In this paper, we provide a formulation of our thermofield-inspired thermal CC for SU(2) systems. We apply the thermal CC to the Lipkin-Meshkov-Glick system as well as the one-dimensional transverse field Ising model as benchmark applications to highlight the accuracy of thermal CC in the study of finite-temperature phase diagrams in SU(2) systems.

arXiv:2107.07922•Physical review. B./Physical review. B•Jan 19, 2022•9 citations

Thermofield theory for finite-temperature quantum chemistry

Gaurav Harsha, Thomas M. Henderson, Gustavo E. Scuseria

Thermofield dynamics has proven to be a very useful theory in high-energy physics, particularly since it permits the treatment of both time- and temperature-dependence on an equal footing. We here show that it also has an excellent potential for studying thermal properties of electronic systems in physics and chemistry. We describe a general framework for constructing finite temperature correlated wave function methods typical of ground state methods. We then introduce two distinct approaches to the resulting imaginary time Schrödinger equation, which we refer to as fixed-reference and covariant methods. As an example, we derive the two corresponding versions of thermal configuration interaction theory and apply them to the Hubbard model, while comparing with exact benchmark results.

arXiv:1901.06753•The Journal of Chemical Physics•Apr 17, 2019•47 citations

Systematic nonperturbative approach for thermal averages in quantum many-body systems: The thermal-cluster-cumulant method

Goutam Sanyal, Seikh Hannan Mandal, S. Guha +1 more

We present in this paper a systematic nonperturbative cluster-cumulant method for deriving thermal averages of operators in quantum many-body systems. The method combines the advantages of the cumulant expansion scheme of thermodynamic perturbation theory, the approach of thermofield dynamics as a finite-temperature field theory, and the time-dependent coupled-cluster theory extended to ``imaginary time.'' We have generalized the concepts of cumulants in a nonperturbative manner and have posited on the statistical operator an exponential-like ansatz containing connected, size-extensive operators in the exponent. These latter cumulantlike operators have been termed ``cluster cumulants'' by us. For a compact treatment, we have derived an alternative thermal field theory in which a time-ordered product is expanded in terms of ``thermal normal products'' of operators and thermal contractions---leading to a ``thermal Wick's theorem.'' The thermal normal products are the finite-temperature analogs of the ordinary normal products and have zero thermal averages. Operators in these products commute (anticommute) under permutations for bosons (fermions). This thermal representation is shown to be unitarily related to the traditional thermofield dynamics formulation, but has the advantage of using only the physical variables. The imaginary-time evolution of the statistical operator is treated by our recently formulated time-dependent cluster-cumulant theory. The partition function is evaluated as an exponential of a connected quantity. As an illustrative example, we have computed the partition function of an anharmonic oscillator with equally weighted cubic and quartic perturbation for a wide range of coupling, extending to the strongly nonperturbative regime. We study the behavior of free energy in the low-temperature limit and verify numerically the validity of the Kohn-Luttinger theorem [Phys. Rev. 118, 41 (1960)] for this system. We also show that our formalism is a natural nonperturbative analog of the thermodynamic perturbative theory by showing that a perturbative solution of the thermal-cluster-cumulant equations generates a variation of the Bloch--Balian--de Dominicis theory.

Physical review. E, Statistical physics, plasmas, fluids, and related interdisciplinary topics•Nov 1, 1993•38 citations
Wave function methods have offered a robust, systematically improvable means to study the ground-state properties in quantum many-body systems. Theories like coupled cluster and their derivatives provide highly accurate approximations to the energy landscape at a reasonable computational cost. Analogs of such methods to study thermal properties, though highly desirable, have been lacking because evaluating thermal properties involve a trace over the entire Hilbert space. Approximating every state in the Hilbert space is an impossible task. Besides, excited-state theories are not as well studied as ground-state ones. In this thesis, we overcome these difficulties by employing thermofield dynamics, a theory that allows the purification of the ensemble density matrix and constructs a pure wave function that encodes the equilibrium thermal behavior of the system. Ensemble averages become expectation values over this so-called thermal state. Around this thermal state, we develop a framework to extend ground-state wave function theories to non-zero temperatures. We discuss explicit formulations of mean-field, configuration interaction, and coupled cluster theories for thermal properties of fermions in the grand canonical ensemble. For fermions in the canonical ensemble, we present mean-field, configuration interaction, and perturbation theories. We also discuss thermal mean-field, configuration interaction, and coupled cluster formalisms for \SU systems. To assess the quality of these approximations, we study both model and small atomic and molecular as benchmark electronic problems while comparing against exact results. For spins, we use the Lipkin-Meshkov-Glick and the one-dimensional transverse field Ising models as our reference systems. Indeed, the thermal methods perform reasonably well while merely adding a prefactor to the computational cost. They also inherit all the properties, good or bad, from their ground-state counterparts, signifying the robustness of our formalism.
Wave function methods have offered a robust, systematically improvable means to study ground-state properties in quantum many-body systems. Theories like coupled cluster and their derivatives provide highly accurate approximations to the energy landscape at a reasonable computational cost. Analogues of such methods to study thermal properties, though highly desirable, have been lacking because evaluating thermal properties involve a trace over the entire Hilbert space, which is a formidable task. Besides, excited-state theories are generally not as well studied as ground-state ones. In this mini-review, we present an overview of a finite-temperature wave function formalism based on thermofield dynamics to overcome these difficulties. Thermofield dynamics allows us to map the equilibrium thermal density matrix to a pure state, i.e., a single wave function, albeit in an expanded Hilbert space. Ensemble averages become expectation values over this so-called thermal state. Around this thermal state, we have developed a procedure to generalize ground-state wave function theories to finite temperatures. As explicit examples, we highlight formulations of mean-field, configuration interaction, and coupled cluster theories for thermal properties of Fermions in the grand-canonical ensemble. To assess the quality of these approximations, we also show benchmark studies for the one-dimensional Hubbard model, while comparing against exact results. We will see that the thermal methods perform similarly to their ground-state counterparts, while merely adding a prefactor to the asymptotic computational cost. They also inherit all the properties, good or bad, from the ground-state methods, signifying the robustness of our formalism and the scope for future development.
We present a coupled cluster and linear response theory to compute properties of many-electron systems at nonzero temperatures. For this purpose, we make use of the thermofield dynamics, which allows for a compact wave function representation of the thermal density matrix, and extend our recently developed framework ( J. Chem. Phys. 2019, 150, 154109, DOI: 10.1063/1.5089560 ) to parametrize the so-called thermal state using an exponential ansatz with cluster operators that create thermal quasiparticle excitations on a mean-field reference. As benchmark examples, we apply this method to both model (one-dimensional Hubbard and Pairing) and ab initio (atomic Beryllium and molecular Hydrogen) systems, while comparing with exact results.
We present a wave function representation for the canonical ensemble thermal density matrix by projecting the thermofield double state against the desired number of particles. The resulting canonical thermal state obeys an imaginary-time evolution equation. Starting with the mean-field approximation, where the canonical thermal state becomes an antisymmetrized geminal power (AGP) wave function, we explore two different schemes to add correlation: by number-projecting a correlated grand-canonical thermal state and by adding correlation to the number-projected mean-field state. As benchmark examples, we use number-projected configuration interaction and an AGP-based perturbation theory to study the hydrogen molecule in a minimal basis and the six-site Hubbard model.
Coupled cluster (CC) has established itself as a powerful theory to study correlated quantum many-body systems. Finite-temperature generalizations of CC theory have attracted considerable interest and have been shown to work as nicely as the ground-state theory. However, most of these recent developments address only fermionic or bosonic systems. The distinct structure of the su(2)su(2)su(2) algebra requires the development of a similar thermal CC theory for spin degrees of freedom. In this paper, we provide a formulation of our thermofield-inspired thermal CC for SU(2) systems. We apply the thermal CC to the Lipkin-Meshkov-Glick system as well as the one-dimensional transverse field Ising model as benchmark applications to highlight the accuracy of thermal CC in the study of finite-temperature phase diagrams in SU(2) systems.
Thermofield dynamics has proven to be a very useful theory in high-energy physics, particularly since it permits the treatment of both time- and temperature-dependence on an equal footing. We here show that it also has an excellent potential for studying thermal properties of electronic systems in physics and chemistry. We describe a general framework for constructing finite temperature correlated wave function methods typical of ground state methods. We then introduce two distinct approaches to the resulting imaginary time Schrödinger equation, which we refer to as fixed-reference and covariant methods. As an example, we derive the two corresponding versions of thermal configuration interaction theory and apply them to the Hubbard model, while comparing with exact benchmark results.
We present in this paper a systematic nonperturbative cluster-cumulant method for deriving thermal averages of operators in quantum many-body systems. The method combines the advantages of the cumulant expansion scheme of thermodynamic perturbation theory, the approach of thermofield dynamics as a finite-temperature field theory, and the time-dependent coupled-cluster theory extended to ``imaginary time.'' We have generalized the concepts of cumulants in a nonperturbative manner and have posited on the statistical operator an exponential-like ansatz containing connected, size-extensive operators in the exponent. These latter cumulantlike operators have been termed ``cluster cumulants'' by us. For a compact treatment, we have derived an alternative thermal field theory in which a time-ordered product is expanded in terms of ``thermal normal products'' of operators and thermal contractions---leading to a ``thermal Wick's theorem.'' The thermal normal products are the finite-temperature analogs of the ordinary normal products and have zero thermal averages. Operators in these products commute (anticommute) under permutations for bosons (fermions). This thermal representation is shown to be unitarily related to the traditional thermofield dynamics formulation, but has the advantage of using only the physical variables. The imaginary-time evolution of the statistical operator is treated by our recently formulated time-dependent cluster-cumulant theory. The partition function is evaluated as an exponential of a connected quantity. As an illustrative example, we have computed the partition function of an anharmonic oscillator with equally weighted cubic and quartic perturbation for a wide range of coupling, extending to the strongly nonperturbative regime. We study the behavior of free energy in the low-temperature limit and verify numerically the validity of the Kohn-Luttinger theorem [Phys. Rev. 118, 41 (1960)] for this system. We also show that our formalism is a natural nonperturbative analog of the thermodynamic perturbative theory by showing that a perturbative solution of the thermal-cluster-cumulant equations generates a variation of the Bloch--Balian--de Dominicis theory.