Trotter-number scaling in Monte Carlo studies of the small polaron

Abstract

A path-integral quantum Monte Carlo method is applied to the two-dimensional single-polaron Holstein model. Simulation data are shown to exhibit -scaling with the number of imaginary-time slices M used in the Trotter decomposition. Numerical extrapolation to yields very accurate estimation of polaron energetic characteristics. Kinetic, potential and total energy are calculated as functions of the electron - phonon coupling strength for different phonon frequencies. The small-polaron regime is found in the strong-coupling limit for all of the frequencies studied. The transition to the polaron state is sharp in the adiabatic regime but broadens as the frequency increases. In the adiabatic limit the polaron forms at .