We present a quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) technique for calculating the exact finite-temperature properties of Bose-Fermi mixtures. The Bose-Fermi auxiliary-field quantum Monte Carlo (BFAFQMC) algorithm combines two methods, a finite-temperature AFQMC algorithm for bosons and a variant of the standard AFQMC algorithm for fermions, into one algorithm for mixtures. We demonstrate the accuracy of our method by comparing its results for the Bose-Hubbard and Bose-Fermi-Hubbard models against those produced using exact diagonalization for small systems. Comparisons are also made with mean-field theory and the worm algorithm for larger systems. As is the case with most fermion Hamiltonians, a sign or phase problem is present in the BFAFQMC algorithm. We discuss the nature of these problems in this framework and describe how they can be controlled with well-studied approximations to expand the BFAFQMC algorithm's reach. This algorithm can serve as an essential tool for answering many unresolved questions about many-body physics in mixed Bose-Fermi systems.
We present an extension of constrained-path auxiliary-field quantum Monte Carlo (CP-AFQMC) for the treatment of correlated electronic systems coupled to phonons. The algorithm follows the standard CP-AFQMC approach for description of the electronic degrees of freedom while phonons are described in first quantization and propagated via a diffusion Monte Carlo approach. Our method is tested on the one- and two-dimensional Holstein and Hubbard-Holstein models. With a simple semiclassical trial wave function, our approach is remarkably accurate for $\ensuremath{\omega}/(2dt\ensuremath{\lambda})<1$ for all parameters in the Holstein model considered in this study where
d is the dimensionality, $\ensuremath{\omega}$ is the phonon frequency,
t is the electronic hopping strength, and $\ensuremath{\lambda}$ is the dimensionless electron-phonon coupling strength. In addition, we empirically show that the autocorrelation timescales as $1/\ensuremath{\omega}$ for $\ensuremath{\omega}/t\ensuremath{\lesssim}1$, which is an improvement over the $1/{\ensuremath{\omega}}^{2}$ scaling of the conventional determinant quantum Monte Carlo algorithm. In the Hubbard-Holstein model, the accuracy of our algorithm is found to be consistent with that of standard CP-AFQMC for the Hubbard model when the Hubbard
U term dominates the physics of the model, and is nearly exact when the ground state is dominated by the electron-phonon coupling scale $\ensuremath{\lambda}$. The ap- proach developed in this work should be valuable for understanding the complex physics arising from the interplay between electrons and phonons in both model lattice problems and ab initio systems.