Dual formulation of the maximum entropy method applied to analytic continuation of quantum Monte Carlo data

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Chuna, Thomas, Barnfield, Nicholas, Dornheim, Tobias, Friedlander, Michael P., Hoheisel, Tim
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Chuna, Thomas
Barnfield, Nicholas
Dornheim, Tobias
Friedlander, Michael P.
Hoheisel, Tim
author_facet Chuna, Thomas
Barnfield, Nicholas
Dornheim, Tobias
Friedlander, Michael P.
Hoheisel, Tim
contents Many fields of physics use quantum Monte Carlo techniques, but struggle to estimate dynamic spectra via the analytic continuation of imaginary-time quantum Monte Carlo data. One of the most ubiquitous approaches to analytic continuation is the maximum entropy method (MEM). We supply a dual Newton optimization algorithm to be used within the MEM and provide analytic bounds for the algorithm's error. The MEM is typically used with Bryan's controversial algorithm [Rothkopf, "Bryan's Maximum Entropy Method" Data 5.3 (2020)]. We present new theoretical issues that are not yet in the literature. Our algorithm has all the theoretical benefits of Bryan's algorithm without these theoretical issues. We compare the MEM with Bryan's optimization to the MEM with our dual Newton optimization on test problems from lattice quantum chromodynamics and plasma physics. These comparisons show that in the presence of noise the dual Newton algorithm produces better estimates and error bars; this indicates the limits of Bryan's algorithm's applicability. We use the MEM to investigate authentic quantum Monte Carlo data for the uniform electron gas at warm dense matter conditions and further substantiate the roton-type feature in the dispersion relation.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2501_01869
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Dual formulation of the maximum entropy method applied to analytic continuation of quantum Monte Carlo data
Chuna, Thomas
Barnfield, Nicholas
Dornheim, Tobias
Friedlander, Michael P.
Hoheisel, Tim
Computational Physics
High Energy Physics - Lattice
Plasma Physics
Many fields of physics use quantum Monte Carlo techniques, but struggle to estimate dynamic spectra via the analytic continuation of imaginary-time quantum Monte Carlo data. One of the most ubiquitous approaches to analytic continuation is the maximum entropy method (MEM). We supply a dual Newton optimization algorithm to be used within the MEM and provide analytic bounds for the algorithm's error. The MEM is typically used with Bryan's controversial algorithm [Rothkopf, "Bryan's Maximum Entropy Method" Data 5.3 (2020)]. We present new theoretical issues that are not yet in the literature. Our algorithm has all the theoretical benefits of Bryan's algorithm without these theoretical issues. We compare the MEM with Bryan's optimization to the MEM with our dual Newton optimization on test problems from lattice quantum chromodynamics and plasma physics. These comparisons show that in the presence of noise the dual Newton algorithm produces better estimates and error bars; this indicates the limits of Bryan's algorithm's applicability. We use the MEM to investigate authentic quantum Monte Carlo data for the uniform electron gas at warm dense matter conditions and further substantiate the roton-type feature in the dispersion relation.
title Dual formulation of the maximum entropy method applied to analytic continuation of quantum Monte Carlo data
topic Computational Physics
High Energy Physics - Lattice
Plasma Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2501.01869