Green's function quantum Monte Carlo method in the presence of topological sign problems: π electronic systems

Abstract

A Green's function quantum Monte Carlo (GF QMC) method is described which renders possible the determination of the exact ground state energy of any π system in the computational framework of effective π Hamiltonians. An instruction to evaluate the growth estimator in the simultaneous presence of positive and negative phases is suggested. Numerical results for five annulene molecules with 4–12 atomic centres as well as 10 further π molecules with different topology (i.e., monocycles with methylene groups, bi- and polycycles) are given. Negative phases occur in 13 of the 15 π networks considered. The statistical QMC results are compared with data derived by conventional (many-body) diagonalization techniques. The interaction-free Hückel Hamiltonian has been adopted as most simple setup to test the applicability of the Monte Carlo approach. Many-body results have been derived for the Hubbard and Pariser-Parr-Pople variants of the π-electron Hamiltonian. It is demonstrated that GF QMC results can be derived whose accuracy does not depend on the presence of negative signs in the numerical simulation.