QLunch: Nilin Abrahamsen

Speaker: Nilin Abrahamsen

Title: Introduction to the variational Monte Carlo algorithm in quantum chemistry

Abstract: Ab initio quantum chemistry is the pursuit of computing chemical properties directly from the Schrödinger equation without the need for system-specific empirical parameters. The variational Monte Carlo (VMC) method is one such method which achieves very high accuracy by optimizing the many-electron wave function within a parameterized Ansatz class. I give an overview of recent developments in the VMC field. These include using a neural network to encode the electron wave function, which has spurred new innovations to handle and reduce the resulting computational cost.