Importance truncation in non-perturbative many-body techniques

Abstract

Expansion many-body methods correspond to solving complex tensor networks. The (iterative) solving of the network and the (repeated) storage of the unknown tensors requires a computing power growing polynomially with the size of basis of the one-body Hilbert space one is working with. Thanks to current computer capabilities, ab initio calculations of nuclei up to mass $A\sim100$ delivering a few percent accuracy are routinely feasible today. However, the runtime and memory costs become quickly prohibitive as one attempts (possibly at the same time) (i) to reach out to heavier nuclei, (ii) to employ symmetry-breaking reference states to access open-shell nuclei and (iii) to aim for yet a greater accuracy. The challenge is particularly exacerbated for non-perturbative methods involving the repeated storage of (high-rank) tensors obtained via iterative solutions of non-linear equations. The present work addresses the formal and numerical implementations of so-called importance truncation (IT) techniques within the frame of one particular non-perturbative expansion method, i.e., Gorkov Self-Consistent Green's Function (GSCGF) theory, with the goal to eventually overcome above-mentioned limitations. By a priori truncating irrelevant tensor entries, IT techniques are shown to reduce the storage to less than 1% of its original cost in realistic GSCGF calculations performed at the ADC(2) level while maintaining a 1% accuracy on the correlation energy. The future steps will be to extend the present development to the next, e.g., ADC(3), truncation level and to SCGF calculations applicable to doubly open-shell nuclei.