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  • Letter
  • Open Access

Quantum Monte Carlo for gauge fields and matter without the fermion determinant

Debasish Banerjee1,2 and Emilie Huffman3

  • 1Theory Division, Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics, 1/AF Bidhan Nagar, Kolkata 700064, India
  • 2Homi Bhabha National Institute, Training School Complex, Anushaktinagar, Mumbai 400094, India
  • 3Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 2Y5, Canada

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Phys. Rev. D 109, L031506 – Published 27 February, 2024

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.109.L031506

Abstract

Ab initio Monte Carlo simulations of strongly interacting fermionic systems are plagued by the fermion sign problem, making the nonperturbative study of many interesting regimes of dense quantum matter, or of theories of odd numbers of fermion flavors, challenging. Moreover, typical fermion algorithms require the computation (or sampling) of the fermion determinant. We focus instead on the meron cluster algorithm, which can solve the fermion sign problem in a class of models without involving the determinant. We develop and benchmark new meron algorithms to simulate fermions coupled to Z2 and U(1) gauge fields in the presence of appropriate four-fermi interactions. Such algorithms can be used to uncover potential exotic properties of matter, particularly relevant for quantum simulator experiments. We demonstrate the emergence of the Gauss’ law at low temperatures for a U(1) model in (1+1)D.

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Phys. Rev. D 109, L031506– Published 27 February, 2024
  • Received 27 June 2023
  • Accepted 26 January 2024
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