Contributor info: Prof. Giuseppe Carleo

Kevin Zhang, Samuel Lederer, Kenny Choo, Titus Neupert, Giuseppe Carleo, Eun-Ah Kim

SciPost Phys. 13, 063 (2022) · published 23 September 2022 | Toggle abstract · pdf

Variational approaches are among the most powerful techniques to approximately solve quantum many-body problems. These encompass both variational states based on tensor or neural networks, and parameterized quantum circuits in variational quantum eigensolvers. However, self-consistent evaluation of the quality of variational wavefunctions is a notoriously hard task. Using a recently developed Hamiltonian reconstruction method, we propose a multi-faceted approach to evaluating the quality of neural-network based wavefunctions. Specifically, we consider convolutional neural network (CNN) and restricted Boltzmann machine (RBM) states trained on a square lattice spin-1/2 J1-J2 Heisenberg model. We find that the reconstructed Hamiltonians are typically less frustrated, and have easy-axis anisotropy near the high frustration point. In addition, the reconstructed Hamiltonians suppress quantum fluctuations in the large J2 limit. Our results highlight the critical importance of the wavefunction's symmetry. Moreover, the multi-faceted insight from the Hamiltonian reconstruction reveals that a variational wave function can fail to capture the true ground state through suppression of quantum fluctuations.

Filippo Vicentini, Damian Hofmann, Attila Szabó, Dian Wu, Christopher Roth, Clemens Giuliani, Gabriel Pescia, Jannes Nys, Vladimir Vargas-Calderón, Nikita Astrakhantsev, Giuseppe Carleo

SciPost Phys. Codebases 7 (2022) · published 24 August 2022 | Toggle abstract · pdf

We introduce version 3 of NetKet, the machine learning toolbox for many-body quantum physics. NetKet is built around neural-network quantum states and provides efficient algorithms for their evaluation and optimization. This new version is built on top of JAX, a differentiable programming and accelerated linear algebra framework for the Python programming language. The most significant new feature is the possibility to define arbitrary neural network ansätze in pure Python code using the concise notation of machine-learning frameworks, which allows for just-in-time compilation as well as the implicit generation of gradients thanks to automatic differentiation. NetKet 3 also comes with support for GPU and TPU accelerators, advanced support for discrete symmetry groups, chunking to scale up to thousands of degrees of freedom, drivers for quantum dynamics applications, and improved modularity, allowing users to use only parts of the toolbox as a foundation for their own code.

Filippo Vicentini, Damian Hofmann, Attila Szabó, Dian Wu, Christopher Roth, Clemens Giuliani, Gabriel Pescia, Jannes Nys, Vladimir Vargas-Calderón, Nikita Astrakhantsev, Giuseppe Carleo

SciPost Phys. Codebases 7-r3.4 (2022) · published 24 August 2022 | Toggle abstract · src

We introduce version 3 of NetKet, the machine learning toolbox for many-body quantum physics. NetKet is built around neural-network quantum states and provides efficient algorithms for their evaluation and optimization. This new version is built on top of JAX, a differentiable programming and accelerated linear algebra framework for the Python programming language. The most significant new feature is the possibility to define arbitrary neural network ansätze in pure Python code using the concise notation of machine-learning frameworks, which allows for just-in-time compilation as well as the implicit generation of gradients thanks to automatic differentiation. NetKet 3 also comes with support for GPU and TPU accelerators, advanced support for discrete symmetry groups, chunking to scale up to thousands of degrees of freedom, drivers for quantum dynamics applications, and improved modularity, allowing users to use only parts of the toolbox as a foundation for their own code.

Damian Hofmann, Giammarco Fabiani, Johan H. Mentink, Giuseppe Carleo, Michael A. Sentef

SciPost Phys. 12, 165 (2022) · published 18 May 2022 | Toggle abstract · pdf

Neural-network quantum states (NQS) have been shown to be a suitable variational ansatz to simulate out-of-equilibrium dynamics in two-dimensional systems using time-dependent variational Monte Carlo (t-VMC). In particular, stable and accurate time propagation over long time scales has been observed in the square-lattice Heisenberg model using the Restricted Boltzmann machine architecture. However, achieving similar performance in other systems has proven to be more challenging. In this article, we focus on the two-leg Heisenberg ladder driven out of equilibrium by a pulsed excitation as a benchmark system. We demonstrate that unmitigated noise is strongly amplified by the nonlinear equations of motion for the network parameters, which causes numerical instabilities in the time evolution. As a consequence, the achievable accuracy of the simulated dynamics is a result of the interplay between network expressiveness and measures required to remedy these instabilities. We show that stability can be greatly improved by appropriate choice of regularization. This is particularly useful as tuning of the regularization typically imposes no additional computational cost. Inspired by machine learning practice, we propose a validation-set based diagnostic tool to help determining optimal regularization hyperparameters for t-VMC based propagation schemes. For our benchmark, we show that stable and accurate time propagation can be achieved in regimes of sufficiently regularized variational dynamics.