Tensor product methods and entanglement optimization for ab initio quantum chemistry
The treatment of high-dimensional problems such as the Schrodinger equation can be approached by concepts of tensor product approximation. We present general techniques that can be used for the treatment of high-dimensional optimization tasks and time-dependent equations, and connect them to concepts already used in many-body quantum physics. Based on achievements from the past decade, entanglement-based methods—developed from different perspectives for different purposes in distinct communities already matured to provide a variety of tools—can be combined to attack highly challenging problems in quantum chemistry. The aim of the present paper is to give a pedagogical introduction to the theoretical background of this novel field and demonstrate the underlying benefits through numerical applications on a text book example. Among the various optimization tasks, we will discuss only those which are connected to a controlled manipulation of the entanglement which is in fact the key ingredient of the methods considered in the paper. The selected topics will be covered according to a series of lectures given on the topic “New wavefunction methods and entanglement optimizations in quantum chemistry” at the Workshop on Theoretical Chemistry, February 18–21, 2014, Mariapfarr, Austria. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.