Tensor networks are a compressed format for multi-dimensional data. One-dimensional tensor networks -- often referred to as tensor trains (TT) or matrix product states (MPS) -- are increasingly being used as a numerical ansatz for continuum functions by ``quantizing'' the inputs into discrete binary digits. Here we demonstrate the power of more general tree tensor networks for this purpose. We provide direct constructions of a number of elementary functions as generic tree tensor networks and interpolative constructions for more complicated functions via a generalization of the tensor cross interpolation algorithm. For a range of multi-dimensional functions we show how more structured tree tensor networks offer a significantly more efficient ansatz than the commonly used tensor train. We demonstrate an application of our methods to solving multi-dimensional, non-linear Fredholm equations, providing a rigorous bound on the rank of the solution which, in turn, guarantees exponentially scaling accuracy with the size of the tree tensor network for certain problems.
@article{arxiv.2410.03572,
title = {Compressing multivariate functions with tree tensor networks},
author = {Joseph Tindall and E. Miles Stoudenmire and Ryan Levy},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2410.03572},
year = {2025}
}