Fermionic path integral Monte Carlo results for the uniform electron gas at finite temperature

TL;DR

This paper presents improved fermionic path integral Monte Carlo simulations for the uniform electron gas at finite temperature, aiming to provide more accurate thermodynamic data for high-density plasmas relevant to warm dense matter.

Contribution

The authors develop and demonstrate a new fermionic PIMC method that surpasses fixed node RPIMC in accuracy at high densities for the UEG.

Findings

More accurate thermodynamic data for high-density UEG.

Enhanced simulation techniques for quantum degenerate electrons.

Potential improvements in modeling warm dense matter.

Abstract

The uniform electron gas (UEG) at finite temperature has recently attracted substantial interest due to the epxerimental progress in the field of warm dense matter. To explain the experimental data accurate theoretical models for high density plasmas are needed which crucially depend on the quality of the thermodynamic properties of the quantum degenerate correlated electrons. Recent fixed node path integral Monte Carlo (RPIMC) data are the most accurate for the UEG at finite temperature, but they become questionable at high degeneracy when the Brueckner parameter $r_s$ becomes smaller than $1$. Here we present new improved direct fermionic PIMC simulations that are exptected to be more accurate than RPIMC at high densities.