Simulating Strongly Correlated Quantum Systems with Tree Tensor Networks

TL;DR

This paper introduces a tree tensor network method for simulating strongly correlated quantum systems in higher dimensions, offering improved efficiency and the ability to optimize local basis transformations.

Contribution

The authors develop a generalized tree tensor network approach that extends matrix-product states, enabling efficient simulation of nonlocal interactions in higher-dimensional systems.

Findings

Polynomial decay of correlations with distance in the tree tensor network

Reduced computational cost compared to previous DMRG-based methods

Effective basis optimization interpolating between real and momentum space

Abstract

We present a tree-tensor-network-based method to study strongly correlated systems with nonlocal interactions in higher dimensions. Although the momentum-space and quantum-chemistry versions of the density matrix renormalization group (DMRG) method have long been applied to such systems, the spatial topology of DMRG-based methods allows efficient optimizations to be carried out with respect to one spatial dimension only. Extending the matrix-product-state picture, we formulate a more general approach by allowing the local sites to be coupled to more than two neighboring auxiliary subspaces. Following Shi. et. al. [Phys. Rev. A, 74, 022320 (2006)], we treat a tree-like network ansatz with arbitrary coordination number z, where the z=2 case corresponds to the one-dimensional scheme. For this ansatz, the long-range correlation deviates from the mean-field value polynomially with distance, in contrast to the matrix-product ansatz, which deviates exponentially. The computational cost of the tree-tensor-network method is significantly smaller than that of previous DMRG-based attempts, which renormalize several blocks into a single block. In addition, we investigate the effect of unitary transformations on the local basis states and present a method for optimizing such transformations. For the 1-d interacting spinless fermion model, the optimized transformation interpolates smoothly between real space and momentum space. Calculations carried out on small quantum chemical systems support our approach.