Abstract
The correlation function Monte Carlo method for calculating ground and excited state properties is extended to complex Hamiltonians and used to calculate the spectrum of neutral helium in a wide range of magnetic fields, a system of particular interest in astrophysics. Correlation functions in imaginary time are evaluated for a set of trial functions over a random walk whose dynamics is governed by the imaginary-time Schrödinger equation. Estimates of the exact energy spectrum and other expectations are made by diagonalizing the matrix of correlation functions. Using the exact results of this ``released-phase'' Monte Carlo approach, we assess the accuracy of the fixed-phase quantum Monte Carlo and Hartree-Fock methods for the helium atom in strong magnetic fields.
- Received 18 November 1996
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.55.6202
©1997 American Physical Society