Ab initio quantum Monte Carlo simulation of the warm dense electron gas
File(s)PoP_accepted.pdf (1.2 MB)
Accepted version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Warm dense matter is one of the most active frontiers in plasma physics due to its relevance for dense
astrophysical objects as well as for novel laboratory experiments in which matter is being strongly compressed
e.g. by high-power lasers. Its description is theoretically very challenging as it contains correlated quantum
electrons at nite temperature|a system that cannot be accurately modeled by standard analytical or ground
state approaches. Recently several breakthroughs have been achieved in the eld of fermionic quantum Monte
Carlo simulations. First, it was shown that exact simulations of a nite model system (30 : : : 100 electrons)
is possible that avoid any simplifying approximations such as xed nodes [Schoof et al., Phys. Rev. Lett.
115, 130402 (2015)]. Second, a novel way to accurately extrapolate these results to the thermodynamic limit
was reported by Dornheim et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 117, 156403 (2016)]. As a result, now thermodynamic
results for the warm dense electron gas are available that have an unprecedented accuracy on the order of
0:1%. Here we present an overview on these results and discuss limitations and future directions.
astrophysical objects as well as for novel laboratory experiments in which matter is being strongly compressed
e.g. by high-power lasers. Its description is theoretically very challenging as it contains correlated quantum
electrons at nite temperature|a system that cannot be accurately modeled by standard analytical or ground
state approaches. Recently several breakthroughs have been achieved in the eld of fermionic quantum Monte
Carlo simulations. First, it was shown that exact simulations of a nite model system (30 : : : 100 electrons)
is possible that avoid any simplifying approximations such as xed nodes [Schoof et al., Phys. Rev. Lett.
115, 130402 (2015)]. Second, a novel way to accurately extrapolate these results to the thermodynamic limit
was reported by Dornheim et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 117, 156403 (2016)]. As a result, now thermodynamic
results for the warm dense electron gas are available that have an unprecedented accuracy on the order of
0:1%. Here we present an overview on these results and discuss limitations and future directions.
Date Issued
2017-03-06
Date Acceptance
2017-02-15
Citation
Physics of Plasmas, 2017, 24, pp.056303-1-056303-10
ISSN
1089-7674
Publisher
AIP Publishing
Start Page
056303-1
End Page
056303-10
Journal / Book Title
Physics of Plasmas
Volume
24
Copyright Statement
© 2017 The Authors. Published by AIP Publishing. This article may be downloaded for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and the American Institute of Physics. The following article appeared in (citation of article) and may be found at http://aip.scitation.org/doi/full/10.1063/1.4977920
Sponsor
Engineering & Physical Science Research Council (EPSRC)
EPSRC
CSCS Swiss National Supercomputing Centre
Imperial College London
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
Identifier
http://scitation.aip.org/content/aip/journal/pop/24/5/10.1063/1.4977920
Grant Number
EP/K038141/1
EPSRC RAP Call November 2014
Shepherd_2015_I
e494
Subjects
Fluids & Plasmas
0202 Atomic, Molecular, Nuclear, Particle And Plasma Physics
0201 Astronomical And Space Sciences
0203 Classical Physics
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
056303