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Register a new userA generalized variational principle with applications to excited state mean field theory
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We present a generalization of the variational principle that is compatible with any Hamiltonian eigenstate that can be specified uniquely by a list of properties. This variational principle appears to be compatible with a wide range of electronic structure methods, including mean-field theory, density functional theory, multi-reference theory, and quantum Monte Carlo. Like the standard variational principle, this generalized variational principle amounts to the optimization of a nonlinear function that, in the limit of an arbitrarily flexible wave function, has the desired Hamiltonian eigenstate as its global minimum. Unlike the standard variational principle, it can target excited states and select individual states in cases of degeneracy or near-degeneracy. As an initial demonstration of how this approach can be useful in practice, we employ it to improve the optimization efficiency of excited state mean field theory by an order of magnitude. With this improved optimization, we are able to demonstrate that the accuracy of the corresponding second-order perturbation theory rivals that of singles-and-doubles equation-of-motion coupled cluster in a substantially broader set of molecules than could be explored by our previous optimization methodology.
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The mean-field solutions of electronic excited states are much less accessible than ground state (e.g. Hartree-Fock) solutions. Energy-based optimization methods for excited states, like $Delta$-scf, tend to fall into the lowest solution consistent with a given symmetry -- a problem known as variational collapse. In this work, we combine the ideas of direct energy-targeting and variance-based optimization in order to describe excited states at the mean-field level. The resulting method, $sigma$-scf, has several advantages. First, it allows one to target any desired excited state by specifying a single parameter: a guess of the energy of that state. It can therefore, in principle, find emph{all} excited states. Second, it avoids variational collapse by using a variance-based, unconstrained local minimization. As a consequence, all states -- ground or excited -- are treated on an equal footing. Third, it provides an alternate approach to locate $Delta$-scf solutions that are otherwise inaccessible by the usual non-aufbau configuration initial guess. We present results for this new method for small atoms (He, Be) and molecules (H2, HF).
Ab initio quantum chemistry calculations for systems with large active spaces are notoriously difficult and cannot be successfully tackled by standard methods. In this letter, we generalize a Greens function QM/QM embedding method called self-energy embedding theory (SEET) that has the potential to be successfully employed to treat large active spaces. In generalized SEET, active orbitals are grouped into intersecting groups of few orbitals allowing us to perform multiple parallel calculations yielding results comparable to the full active space treatment. We examine generalized SEET on a series of examples and discuss a hierarchy of systematically improvable approximations.
Elucidating photochemical reactions is vital to understand various biochemical phenomena and develop functional materials such as artificial photosynthesis and organic solar cells, albeit its notorious difficulty by both experiments and theories. The best theoretical way so far to analyze photochemical reactions at the level of ab initio electronic structure is the state-averaged multi-configurational self-consistent field (SA-MCSCF) method. However, the exponential computational cost of classical computers with the increasing number of molecular orbitals hinders applications of SA-MCSCF for large systems we are interested in. Utilizing quantum computers was recently proposed as a promising approach to overcome such computational cost, dubbed as SA orbital-optimized variational quantum eigensolver (SA-OO-VQE). Here we extend a theory of SA-OO-VQE so that analytical gradients of energy can be evaluated by standard techniques that are feasible with near-term quantum computers. The analytical gradients, known only for the state-specific OO-VQE in previous studies, allow us to determine various characteristics of photochemical reactions such as the minimal energy (ME) points and the conical intersection (CI) points. We perform a proof-of-principle calculation of our methods by applying it to the photochemical {it cis-trans} isomerization of 1,3,3,3-tetrafluoropropene. Numerical simulations of quantum circuits and measurements can correctly capture the photochemical reaction pathway of this model system, including the ME and CI points. Our results illustrate the possibility of leveraging quantum computers for studying photochemical reactions.
An adaptive variational quantum imaginary time evolution (AVQITE) approach is introduced that yields efficient representations of ground states for interacting Hamiltonians on near-term quantum computers. It is based on McLachlans variational principle applied to imaginary time evolution of variational wave functions. The variational parameters evolve deterministically according to equations of motions that minimize the difference to the exact imaginary time evolution, which is quantified by the McLachlan distance. Rather than working with a fixed variational ansatz, where the McLachlan distance is constrained by the quality of the ansatz, the AVQITE method iteratively expands the ansatz along the dynamical path to keep the McLachlan distance below a chosen threshold. This ensures the state is able to follow the quantum imaginary time evolution path in the system Hilbert space rather than in a restricted variational manifold set by a predefined fixed ansatz. AVQITE is used to prepare ground states of H$_4$, H$_2$O and BeH$_2$ molecules, where it yields compact variational ansatze and ground state energies within chemical accuracy. Polynomial scaling of circuit depth with system size is demonstrated through a set of AVQITE calculations of quantum spin models. Finally, it is shown that quantum Lanczos calculations can also be naturally performed alongside AVQITE without additional quantum resource costs.
Ground state eigenvectors of the reduced Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer Hamiltonian are employed as a wavefunction ansatz to model strong electron correlation in quantum chemistry. This wavefunction is a product of weakly-interacting pairs of electrons. While other geminal wavefunctions may only be employed in a projected Schr{o}dinger equation, the present approach may be solved variationally with polynomial cost. The resulting wavefunctions are used to compute expectation values of Coulomb Hamiltionans and we present results for atoms and dissociation curves which are in agreement with doubly-occupied configuration interaction (DOCI) data. The present approach will serve as the starting point for a many-body theory of pairs, much as Hartree-Fock is the starting point for weakly-correlated electrons.
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