1999/02/28 by Shailesh Chandrasekharan, Uwe-Jens Wiese · 226 citations
Mathematics · Physics and Astronomy · #Cluster (spacecraft) #Computer science #Fermion #Hubbard model #Mathematical analysis #Mathematics #Path integral formulation #Permutation (music) #Physics #Physics of Superconductivity and Magnetism #Quantum #Quantum Chromodynamics and Particle Interactions #Quantum mechanics #Sign (mathematics) #Theoretical and Computational Physics #Theoretical physics #cond-mat.stat-mech #cond-mat.supr-con #hep-lat
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevlett.83.3116
published in Physical Review Letters 83(16), 3116-3119 (American Physical Society) · 4 pages, ReVTeX
arxiv created 1999/10/11 · openalex publication_date 1999/10/18 · arxiv updated 2011/08/11 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
We present a general strategy to solve the notorious fermion sign problem using cluster algorithms. The method applies to various systems in the Hubbard model family as well as to relativistic fermions. Here it is illustrated for nonrelativistic lattice fermions. A configuration of fermion world lines is decomposed into clusters that contribute independently to the fermion permutation sign. A cluster whose flip changes the sign is referred to as a meron. Configurations containing meron clusters contribute 0 to the path integral, while all other configurations contribute 1. The cluster representation describes the partition function as a gas of clusters in the zero-meron sector.