Wavefunction matching for solving quantum many-body problems

Ab initio calculations play an essential role in our fundamental understanding of quantum many-body systems across many subfields, from strongly correlated fermions to quantum chemistry and from atomic and molecular systems7–9 to nuclear physics.10–14 One of the primary challenges is to perform accurate calculations for systems where the interactions may be complicated and difficult for the chosen computational method to handle. Here we address the problem by introducing a new approach called wave function matching. Wave function matching transforms the interaction between particles so that the wave functions up to some finite range match that of an easily computable interaction. This allows for calculations of systems that would otherwise be impossible due to problems such as Monte Carlo sign cancellations. We apply the method to lattice Monte Carlo simulations15, 16 of light nuclei, medium-mass nuclei, neutron matter, and nuclear matter. We use high-fidelity chiral effective field theory interactions17, 18 and find good agreement with empirical data. These results are accompanied by new insights on the nuclear interactions that may help to resolve long-standing challenges in accurately reproducing nuclear binding energies, charge radii, and nuclear matter saturation in ab initio calculations