English

The Early Years of Quantum Monte Carlo: the Ground State

History and Philosophy of Physics 2021-06-30 v1

Abstract

The history of the development of Monte Carlo methods to solve the many-body problem in quantum mechanics is presented. The survey starts with the early attempts with the first available computers just after the war and extends until the years 80s with the celebrated calculation of the electron gas by Ceperley and Alder. Usage is made of an interview of David Ceperley by the author.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2103.04881,
  title  = {The Early Years of Quantum Monte Carlo: the Ground State},
  author = {Michel Mareschal},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2103.04881},
  year   = {2021}
}