Surrogate optimization of variational quantum circuits.

Variational quantum eigensolvers are touted as a near-term algorithm capable of impacting many applications. However, the potential has not yet been realized, with few claims of quantum advantage and high resource estimates, especially due to the need for optimization in the presence of noise. Finding algorithms and methods to improve convergence is important to accelerate the capabilities of near-term hardware for variational quantum eigensolver or more broad applications of hybrid methods in which optimization is required.

Towards structural optimization of gold nanoclusters with quantum Monte Carlo.

We study the prospects of using quantum Monte Carlo techniques (QMC) to optimize the electronic wavefunctions and atomic geometries of gold compounds. Complex gold nanoclusters are widely studied for diverse biochemical applications, but the dynamic correlation and relativistic effects in gold set the bar high for reliable, predictive simulation methods. Here we study selected ground state properties of few-atom gold clusters by using density functional theory (DFT) and various implementations of the variational Monte Carlo (VMC) and diffusion Monte Carlo.

Surrogate Hessian accelerated structural optimization for stochastic electronic structure theories.

We present an efficient energy-based method for structural optimization with stochastic electronic structure theories, such as diffusion quantum Monte Carlo (DMC). This method is based on robust line-search energy minimization in reduced parameter space, exploiting approximate but accurate Hessian information from a surrogate theory, such as density functional theory. The surrogate theory is also used to characterize the potential energy surface, allowing for simple but reliable ways to maximize statistical efficiency while retaining controllable accuracy.

A combined first principles study of the structural, magnetic, and phonon properties of monolayer CrI.

The first magnetic 2D material discovered, monolayer (ML) CrI, is particularly fascinating due to its ground state ferromagnetism. However, because ML materials are difficult to probe experimentally, much remains unresolved about ML CrI's structural, electronic, and magnetic properties. Here, we leverage Density Functional Theory (DFT) and high-accuracy Diffusion Monte Carlo (DMC) simulations to predict lattice parameters, magnetic moments, and spin-phonon and spin-lattice coupling of ML CrI.

Toward quantum Monte Carlo forces on heavier ions: Scaling properties.

Quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) forces have been studied extensively in recent decades because of their importance with spectroscopic observables and geometry optimization. Here, we benchmark the accuracy and computational cost of QMC forces. The zero-variance zero-bias (ZVZB) force estimator is used in standard variational and diffusion Monte Carlo simulations with mean-field based trial wavefunctions and atomic pseudopotentials.

Computation of Dynamic Polarizabilities and van der Waals Coefficients from Path-Integral Monte Carlo.

We demonstrate computation of total dynamic multipole polarizabilities using path-integral Monte Carlo method (PIMC). The PIMC approach enables accurate thermal and nonadiabatic mixing of electronic, rotational, and vibrational degrees of freedom. Therefore, we can study the thermal effects, or lack thereof, in the full multipole spectra of the chosen one- and two-electron systems: H, Ps, He, Ps, H, and HD.

Static field-gradient polarizabilities of small atoms and molecules at finite temperature.

In this work, we propose new field-free estimators of static field-gradient polarizabilities for finite temperature path-integral Monte Carlo method. Namely, dipole-quadrupole polarizability A, dipole-dipole-quadrupole polarizability B, and quadrupole-quadrupole polarizability C are computed for several up to two-electron systems: H, H, He, Li, Be, Ps, PsH, H, H, H, and HeH. We provide complementary data for ground state electronic properties within the adiabatic approximation and demonstrate good agreement with available values in the literature.