Approaching the Kosterlitz-Thouless transition for the classical XY model with tensor networks

We apply variational tensor-network methods for simulating the Kosterlitz-Thouless phase transition in the classical two-dimensional XY model. In particular, using uniform matrix product states (MPS) with non-Abelian O(2) symmetry, we compute the universal drop in the spin stiffness at the critical point. In the critical low-temperature regime, we focus on the MPS entanglement spectrum to characterize the Luttinger-liquid phase. In the high-temperature phase, we confirm the exponential divergence of the correlation length and estimate the critical temperature with high precision. Our MPS approach can be used to study generic two-dimensional phase transitions with continuous symmetries

Scaling hypothesis for matrix product states

We study critical spin systems and field theories using matrix product states, and formulate a scaling hypothesis in terms of operators, eigenvalues of the transfer matrix, and lattice spacing in the case of field theories. The critical point, exponents, and central charge are determined by optimizing them to obtain a data collapse. We benchmark this method by studying critical Ising and Potts models, where we also obtain a scaling Ansatz for the correlation length and entanglement entropy. The formulation of those scaling functions turns out to be crucial for studying critical quantum field theories on the lattice. For the case of lambda phi(4) with mass parameter mu(2) and lattice spacing a, we demonstrate a double data collapse for the correlation length delta xi(mu, lambda, D) = (xi) over tilde((alpha - alpha(c))(delta/a)(-1/nu)) with D the bond dimension, delta the gap between eigenvalues of the transfer matrix, and alpha(c) = mu(2)(R)/lambda the parameter which fixes the critical quantum field theory

Solving frustrated Ising models using tensor networks

Motivated by the recent success of tensor networks to calculate the residual entropy of spin ice and kagome Ising models, we develop a general framework to study frustrated Ising models in terms of infinite tensor networks %, i.e. tensor networks that can be contracted using standard algorithms for infinite systems. This is achieved by reformulating the problem as local rules for configurations on overlapping clusters chosen in such a way that they relieve the frustration, i.e. that the energy can be minimized independently on each cluster. We show that optimizing the choice of clusters, including the weight on shared bonds, is crucial for the contractibility of the tensor networks, and we derive some basic rules and a linear program to implement them. We illustrate the power of the method by computing the residual entropy of a frustrated Ising spin system on the kagome lattice with next-next-nearest neighbour interactions, vastly outperforming Monte Carlo methods in speed and accuracy. The extension to finite-temperature is briefly discussed

Tangent-space methods for truncating uniform MPS

A central primitive in quantum tensor network simulations is the problem of approximating a matrix product state with one of a lower bond dimension. This problem forms the central bottleneck in algorithms for time evolution and for contracting projected entangled pair states. We formulate a tangent-space based variational algorithm to achieve this for uniform (infinite) matrix product states. The algorithm exhibits a favourable scaling of the computational cost, and we demonstrate its usefulness by several examples involving the multiplication of a matrix product state with a matrix product operator

Partial lifting of degeneracy in the J1−J2−J3J_1-J_2-J_3 Ising antiferromagnet on the kagome lattice

Motivated by dipolar-coupled artificial spin systems, we present a theoretical study of the classical $J_1-J_2-J_3$ Ising antiferromagnet on the kagome lattice. We establish the ground-state phase diagram of this model for $J_1 > |J_2|, |J_3|$ based on exact results for the ground-state energies. When all the couplings are antiferromagnetic, the model has three macroscopically degenerate ground-state phases, and using tensor networks, we can calculate the entropies of these phases and of their boundaries very accurately. In two cases, the entropy appears to be a fraction of that of the triangular lattice Ising antiferromagnet, and we provide analytical arguments to support this observation. We also notice that, surprisingly enough, the dipolar ground state is not a ground state of the truncated model, but of the model with smaller $J_3$ interactions, an indication of a very strong competition between low-energy states in this model.Comment: Accepted version for PRB; 23 pages (16 main text), 20 figure

Variational methods for contracting projected entangled-pair states

The norms or expectation values of infinite projected entangled-pair states (PEPS) cannot be computed exactly, and approximation algorithms have to be applied. In the last years, many efficient algorithms have been devised -- the corner transfer matrix renormalization group (CTMRG) and variational uniform matrix product state (VUMPS) algorithm are the most common -- but it remains unclear whether they always lead to the same results. In this paper, we identify a subclass of PEPS for which we can reformulate the contraction as a variational problem that is algorithm independent. We use this variational feature to assess and compare the accuracy of CTMRG and VUMPS contractions. Moreover, we devise a new variational contraction scheme, which we can extend to compute general N-point correlation functions