Equivalence of residual entropy of hexagonal and cubic ices from tensor network methods
六方冰和立方冰残余熵的等价性:来自张量网络方法
Xia-Ze Xu, Tong-Yu Lin, Guang-Ming Zhang
AI总结 利用张量网络方法,通过将冰规则编码为局部张量并验证转移算子的正规性,直接计算了六方冰和立方冰的残余熵,支持两者相等。
Comments 10 pages, 9 figures, three tables
详情
- Journal ref
- Phys. Rev. B 113, 214416 (2026)
尽管对冰型模型进行了数十年的研究,六方冰($S_h$)和立方冰($S_c$)的残余熵是否相等这一长期存在的问题仍未解决。虽然分析研究确立了不等式 $S_h \geq S_c$,但数值研究表明这两个值非常接近。在这项工作中,我们使用高精度张量网络方法重新审视了这个问题。在蒙特卡洛方法中,无法通过对基态简并空间进行采样直接获得残余熵,然而张量网络框架能够将“冰规则”显式编码到局部张量中,然后将残余熵转化为寻找投影纠缠对算子形式的转移算子的最大特征值,从而可以进行高精度数值评估。同时,我们提出了一种基于分析转移算子正规性的新视角,并证明如果算子正规,则 $S_h = S_c$ 直接成立。然后,使用变分张量网络方法数值验证了这种正规性。最后,利用我们最近开发的裂分角转移矩阵重正化群算法直接计算了两种残余熵,为 $S_h$ 和 $S_c$ 的相等性提供了严格的证据。
The long-standing question of whether the residual entropy of hexagonal ice ($S_h$) equals that of cubic ice ($S_c$) remains unresolved despite decades of research on ice-type models. While analytical studies have established the inequality $S_h \geq S_c$, numerical investigations suggest that the two values are very close. In this work, we revisit this problem using high-precision tensor-network methods. In Monte Carlo approaches the residual entropy cannot be directly obtained by sampling the ground-state degeneracy space, however, the tensor-network framework enables an explicit encoding of the "ice rule'' into local tensors, and then the residual entropy is transformed into finding the largest eigenvalue of a transfer operator in the form of a projected entangled-pair operator, which allows high-accuracy numerical evaluation. Meanwhile, we propose a new perspective based on analyzing the normality of the transfer operator, and demonstrate that if the operator is normal, the equality $S_h = S_c$ follows directly. Then the variational tensor network methods are employed to numerically verify this normality. Finally both residual entropies are directly computed by using our recently developed split corner transfer matrix renormalization group algorithm, providing a rigorous evidence supporting the equality between $S_h$ and $S_c$.