Computing Quantum Phase Transitions

Thomas Vojta, Missouri University of Science and Technology

This document has been relocated to http://scholarsmine.mst.edu/phys_facwork/335

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Abstract

This article first gives a concise introduction to quantum phase transitions, emphasizing similarities with and differences to classical thermal transitions. After pointing out the computational challenges posed by quantum phase transitions, a number of successful computational approaches is discussed. The focus is on classical and quantum Monte Carlo methods, with the former being based on the quantum-to classical mapping while the latter directly attack the quantum problem. These methods are illustrated by several examples of quantum phase transitions in clean and disordered systems.