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Avik Sarkar

Publications and source records attributed to Avik Sarkar.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

Ab initio $\alpha$-$\alpha$ scattering with high-fidelity chiral interactions

Low-energy $\alpha$-$\alpha$ scattering underlies stellar helium burning and sharply tests nuclear forces in the reaction regime. We present its first calculation using the high-fidelity N3LO chiral NLEFT interaction, incorporated through wave function matching, on a fine lattice, using the adiabatic projection method. On the fine lattice, the two-cluster norm matrix becomes severely ill-conditioned, and its direct inversion is unstable. We address this with Tikhonov regularization, extrapolating the regulator to zero, and confirm the result with an independent truncated singular-value decomposition. The S- and D-wave phase shifts agree with empirical analyses, extending the validation of this interaction from bound states and charge radii to scattering and providing a practical route to ab initio nuclear reactions on fine lattices

nucl-th

Floating block method for quantum Monte Carlo simulations

Quantum Monte Carlo simulations are powerful and versatile tools for the quantum many-body problem. In addition to the usual calculations of energies and eigenstate observables, quantum Monte Carlo simulations can in principle be used to build fast and accurate many-body emulators using eigenvector continuation or design time-dependent Hamiltonians for adiabatic quantum computing. These new applications require something that is missing from the published literature, an efficient quantum Monte Carlo scheme for computing the inner product of ground state eigenvectors corresponding to different Hamiltonians. In this work, we introduce an algorithm called the floating block method, which solves the problem by performing Euclidean time evolution with two different Hamiltonians and interleaving the corresponding time blocks. We use the floating block method and nuclear lattice simulations to build eigenvector continuation emulators for energies of $^4$He, $^8$Be, $^{12}$C, and $^{16}$O nuclei over a range of local and non-local interaction couplings. From the emulator data, we identify the quantum phase transition line from a Bose gas of alpha particles to a nuclear liquid.

nucl-th

Self-learning Emulators and Eigenvector Continuation

Emulators that can bypass computationally expensive scientific calculations with high accuracy and speed can enable new studies of fundamental science as well as more potential applications. In this work we discuss solving a system of constraint equations efficiently using a self-learning emulator. A self-learning emulator is an active learning protocol that can be used with any emulator that faithfully reproduces the exact solution at selected training points. The key ingredient is a fast estimate of the emulator error that becomes progressively more accurate as the emulator is improved, and the accuracy of the error estimate can be corrected using machine learning. We illustrate with three examples. The first uses cubic spline interpolation to find the solution of a transcendental equation with variable coefficients. The second example compares a spline emulator and a reduced basis method emulator to find solutions of a parameterized differential equation. The third example uses eigenvector continuation to find the eigenvectors and eigenvalues of a large Hamiltonian matrix that depends on several control parameters.

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Convergence of Eigenvector Continuation

Eigenvector continuation is a computational method that finds the extremal eigenvalues and eigenvectors of a Hamiltonian matrix with one or more control parameters. It does this by projection onto a subspace of eigenvectors corresponding to selected training values of the control parameters. The method has proven to be very efficient and accurate for interpolating and extrapolating eigenvectors. However, almost nothing is known about how the method converges, and its rapid convergence properties have remained mysterious. In this letter we present the first study of the convergence of eigenvector continuation. In order to perform the mathematical analysis, we introduce a new variant of eigenvector continuation that we call vector continuation. We first prove that eigenvector continuation and vector continuation have identical convergence properties and then analyze the convergence of vector continuation. Our analysis shows that, in general, eigenvector continuation converges more rapidly than perturbation theory. The faster convergence is achieved by eliminating a phenomenon that we call differential folding, the interference between non-orthogonal vectors appearing at different orders in perturbation theory. From our analysis we can predict how eigenvector continuation converges both inside and outside the radius of convergence of perturbation theory. While eigenvector continuation is a non-perturbative method, we show that its rate of convergence can be deduced from power series expansions of the eigenvectors. Our results also yield new insights into the nature of divergences in perturbation theory.

nucl-th

Projected Cooling Algorithm for Quantum Computation

In the current era of noisy quantum devices, there is a need for quantum algorithms that are efficient and robust against noise. Towards this end, we introduce the projected cooling algorithm for quantum computation. The projected cooling algorithm is able to construct the localized ground state of any Hamiltonian with a translationally-invariant kinetic energy and interactions that vanish at large distances. The term "localized" refers to localization in position space. The method can be viewed as the quantum analog of evaporative cooling. We start with an initial state with support over a compact region of a large volume. We then drive the excited quantum states to disperse and measure the remaining portion of the wave function left behind. For the nontrivial examples we consider here, the improvement over other methods is substantial. The only additional resource required is performing the operations in a volume significantly larger than the size of the localized state. These characteristics make the projected cooling algorithm a promising tool for calculations of self-bound systems such as atomic nuclei.

quant-ph

Time fractals and discrete scale invariance with trapped ions

We show that a one-dimensional chain of trapped ions can be engineered to produce a quantum mechanical system with discrete scale invariance and fractal-like time dependence. By discrete scale invariance we mean a system that replicates itself under a rescaling of distance for some scale factor, and a time fractal is a signal that is invariant under the rescaling of time. These features are reminiscent of the Efimov effect, which has been predicted and observed in bound states of three-body systems. We demonstrate that discrete scale invariance in the trapped ion system can be controlled with two independently tunable parameters. We also discuss the extension to n-body states where the discrete scaling symmetry has an exotic heterogeneous structure. The results we present can be realized using currently available technologies developed for trapped ion quantum systems.

cond-mat.quant-gas