Quantum Monte Carlo simulations with tensor-network states

Matrix-product states, generated by the density-matrix renormalization group method, are among the most powerful methods for simulation of quasi-one dimensional quantum systems. Direct application of a matrix-product state representation fails for two dimensional systems, although a number of tensor-network states have been proposed to generalize the concept for two dimensions. We introduce a useful approximate method replacing a 4-index tensor by two matrices in order to contract tensors in two dimensions. We use this formalism as a basis for variational quantum Monte Carlo, optimizing the matrix elements stochastically. We present results on a two dimensional spinless fermion model including nearest- neighbor Coulomb interactions, and determine the critical Coulomb interaction for the charge density wave state by finite size scaling.