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Simulation of quantum systems with random walks: A new algorithm for charged systems

Journal Article · · J. Comput. Phys.; (United States)
Random walks with branching have been used to calculate exact properties of the ground state of quantum many-body systems. In this paper, a more general Green's function identity is derived which relates the potential energy, a trial wavefunction, and a trial density matrix to the rules of a branched random walk. It is shown that an efficient algorithm requires a good trial wavefunction, a good trial density matrix, and a good sampling of this density matrix. An accurate density matrix is constructed for Coulomb systems using the path integral formula. The random walks from this new algorithm diffuse through phase space an order of magnitude faster than the previous Green's Function Monte Carlo method. In contrast to the simple diffusion Monte Carlo algorithm, it is exact method. Representative results are presented for several molecules.
Research Organization:
University of California, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94550
DOE Contract Number:
W-7405-ENG-48
OSTI ID:
5385609
Journal Information:
J. Comput. Phys.; (United States), Journal Name: J. Comput. Phys.; (United States) Vol. 51:3; ISSN JCTPA
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English