Real-time quantum dynamics, path integrals and the method of thimbles
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Publication:2314947
Abstract: Direct numerical evaluation of the real-time path integral has a well-known sign problem that makes convergence exponentially slow. One promising remedy is to use Picard-Lefschetz theory to flow the domain of the field variables into the complex plane, where the integral is better behaved. By Cauchy's theorem, the final value of the path integral is unchanged. Previous analyses have considered the case of real scalar fields in thermal equilibrium, employing a closed Schwinger-Keldysh time contour, allowing the evaluation of the full quantum correlation functions. Here we extend the analysis by not requiring a closed time path, instead allowing for an initial density matrix for out-of-equilibrium initial value problems. We are able to explicitly implement Gaussian initial conditions, and by separating the initial time and the later times into a two-step Monte-Carlo sampling, we are able to avoid the phenomenon of multiple thimbles. In fact, there exists one and only one thimble for each sample member of the initial density matrix. We demonstrate the approach through explicitly computing the real-time propagator for an interacting scalar in 0+1 dimensions, and find very good convergence allowing for comparison with perturbation theory and the classical-statistical approximation to real-time dynamics.
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Cited in
(17)- Statistics on Lefschetz thimbles: Bell/Leggett-Garg inequalities and the classical-statistical approximation
- Backpropagating hybrid Monte Carlo algorithm for fast Lefschetz thimble calculations
- Quantum tunnelling, real-time dynamics and Picard-Lefschetz thimbles
- Functional methods for false-vacuum decay in real time
- Optimisation of thimble simulations and quantum dynamics of multiple fields in real time
- A rigorous real-time Feynman path integral and propagator.
- Scattering with real-time path integrals
- scientific article; zbMATH DE number 5605353 (Why is no real title available?)
- Comment on the subtlety of defining a real-time path integral in lattice gauge theories
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- Real-time Feynman path integral with Picard-Lefschetz theory and its applications to quantum tunneling
- A new picture of quantum tunneling in the real-time path integral from Lefschetz thimble calculations
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- Existence of real time quantum path integrals
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- False vacuum decay of excited states in finite-time instanton calculus
- Computing real-time quantum path integrals on sewed, almost-Lefschetz thimbles
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