Free energy of the self-interacting relativistic lattice Bose gas at finite density

Abstract

The density of state approach has recently been proposed as a potential route to circumvent the sign problem in systems at finite density. In this study, using the Linear Logarithmic Relaxation (LLR) algorithm, we extract the generalised density of states, which is defined in terms of the imaginary part of the action, for the self-interacting relativistic lattice Bose gas at finite density. After discussing the implementation and testing the reliability of our approach, we focus on the determination of the free energy difference between the full system and its phase-quenched counterpart. Using a set of lattices ranging from $4^4$ to $16^4$ , we show that in the low density phase, this overlap free energy can be reliably extrapolated to the thermodynamic limit. The numerical precision we obtain with the LLR method allows us to determine with sufficient accuracy the expectation value of the phase factor, which is used in the calculation of the overlap free energy, down to values of ${\cal O}(10^{-480})$. When phase factor measurements are extended to the dense phase, a change of behaviour of the overlap free energy is clearly visible as the chemical potential crosses a critical value. Using fits inspired by the approximate validity of mean-field theory, which is confirmed by our simulations, we extract the critical chemical potential as the non-analyticity point in the overlap free energy, obtaining a value that is in agreement with other determinations. Implications of our findings and potential improvements of our methodology are also discussed.