Signal-to-noise issues in non-relativistic quantum matter: From entanglement to thermodynamics

Abstract:  Non-relativistic quantum matter, as realized in ultracold atomic gases, continues to be a remarkably versatile playground for many-body physics. Experimentalists have exquisite control over temperature, density, coupling, and shape of the trapping potential. Additionally, a wide range of properties can be measured: from simple ones like equations of state to more involved ones like the bulk viscosity and entanglement. The latter has received much attention due to its connection to quantum phase transitions, but it has proven extremely difficult to compute: stochastic methods display exponential signal-to-noise issues of a very similar nature as those due to the infamous sign problem affecting finite-density QCD. In this talk, I will present an algorithm that solves the signal-to-noise issue for entanglement, and I will show results for strongly interacting systems in three spatial dimensions that are the first of their kind. I will also present a few recent explorations of the thermodynamics of polarized matter and other cases that usually have a sign problem, using complexified stochastic quantization.