This book reviews recent developments of quantum Monte Carlo methods and some remarkable applications to interacting quantum spin systems and strongly correlated electron systems. It contains twenty-two papers by thirty authors. Some of the features are as follows. The first paper gives the foundations of the standard quantum Monte Carlo method, including some recent results on higher-order decompositions of exponential operators and ordered exponentials. The second paper presents a general review of quantum Monte Carlo methods used in the present book. One of the most challenging problems in the field of quantum Monte Carlo techniques, the negative-sign problem, is also discussed and new methods proposed to partially overcome it. In addition, low-dimensional quantum spin systems are studied. Some interesting applications of quantum Monte Carlo methods to fermion systems are also presented to investigate the role of strong correlations and fluctuations of electrons and to clarify the mechanism of high-c superconductivity. Not only thermal properties but also quantum-mechanical ground-state properties have been studied by the projection technique using auxiliary fields. Further, the Haldane gap is confirmed by numerical calculations. Active researchers in the forefront of condensed matter physics as well as young graduate students who want to start learning the quantum Monte Carlo methods will find this book useful.

The Monte Carlo method is now widely used and commonly accepted as an important and useful tool in solid state physics and related fields. It is broadly recognized that the technique of "computer simulation" is complementary to both analytical theory and experiment, and can significantly contribute to ad vancing the understanding of various scientific problems. Widespread applications of the Monte Carlo method to various fields of the statistical mechanics of condensed matter physics have already been reviewed in two previously published books, namely Monte Carlo Methods in Statistical Physics (Topics Curro Phys. , Vol. 7, 1st edn. 1979, 2ndedn. 1986) and Applications of the Monte Carlo Method in Statistical Physics (Topics Curro Phys. , Vol. 36, 1st edn. 1984, 2nd edn. 1987). Meanwhile the field has continued its rapid growth and expansion, and applications to new fields have appeared that were not treated at all in the above two books (e. g. studies of irreversible growth phenomena, cellular automata, interfaces, and quantum problems on lattices). Also, new methodic aspects have emerged, such as aspects of efficient use of vector com puters or parallel computers, more efficient analysis of simulated systems con figurations, and methods to reduce critical slowing down at i>hase transitions. Taken together with the extensive activity in certain traditional areas of research (simulation of classical and quantum fluids, of macromolecular materials, of spin glasses and quadrupolar glasses, etc.

A comprehensive introduction to state-of-the-art quantum Monte Carlo techniques for applications in strongly-interacting systems. Including variational wave functions, stochastic samplings, the variational technique, optimisation techniques, real-time dynamics and projection methods and recent developments on the continuum space. An extensive resource for students and researchers.

Featuring detailed explanations of the major algorithms used in quantum Monte Carlo simulations, this is the first textbook of its kind to provide a pedagogical overview of the field and its applications. The book provides a comprehensive introduction to the Monte Carlo method, its use, and its foundations, and examines algorithms for the simulation of quantum many-body lattice problems at finite and zero temperature. These algorithms include continuous-time loop and cluster algorithms for quantum spins, determinant methods for simulating fermions, power methods for computing ground and excited states, and the variational Monte Carlo method. Also discussed are continuous-time algorithms for quantum impurity models and their use within dynamical mean-field theory, along with algorithms for analytically continuing imaginary-time quantum Monte Carlo data. The parallelization of Monte Carlo simulations is also addressed. This is an essential resource for graduate students, teachers, and researchers interested in quantum Monte Carlo techniques.

Monte Carlo Simulation in Statistical Physics deals with the computer simulation of many-body systems in condensed-matter physics and related fields of physics, chemistry and beyond, to traffic flows, stock market fluctuations, etc.). Using random numbers generated by a computer, probability distributions are calculated, allowing the estimation of the thermodynamic properties of various systems. This book describes the theoretical background to several variants of these Monte Carlo methods and gives a systematic presentation from which newcomers can learn to perform such simulations and to analyze their results. This fourth edition has been updated and a new chapter on Monte Carlo simulation of quantum-mechanical problems has been added. To help students in their work a special web server has been installed to host programs and discussion groups (http://wwwcp.tphys.uni-heidelberg.de). Prof. Binder was the winner of the Berni J. Alder CECAM Award for Computational Physics 2001.

When learning very formal material one comes to a stage where one thinks one has understood the material. Confronted with a "realiife" problem, the passivity of this understanding sometimes becomes painfully elear. To be able to solve the problem, ideas, methods, etc. need to be ready at hand. They must be mastered (become active knowledge) in order to employ them successfully. Starting from this idea, the leitmotif, or aim, of this book has been to elose this gap as much as possible. How can this be done? The material presented here was born out of a series of lectures at the Summer School held at Figueira da Foz (Portugal) in 1987. The series of lectures was split into two concurrent parts. In one part the "formal material" was presented. Since the background of those attending varied widely, the presentation of the formal material was kept as pedagogic as possible. In the formal part the general ideas behind the Monte Carlo method were developed. The Monte Carlo method has now found widespread appli cation in many branches of science such as physics, chemistry, and biology. Because of this, the scope of the lectures had to be narrowed down. We could not give a complete account and restricted the treatment to the ap plication of the Monte Carlo method to the physics of phase transitions. Here particular emphasis is placed on finite-size effects.