Ab initio path integral Monte Carlo simulations of warm dense two-component systems without fixed nodes: Structural properties

Abstract

We present extensive new ab initio path integral Monte Carlo (PIMC) results for a variety of structural properties of warm dense hydrogen and beryllium. To deal with the fermion sign problem—an exponential computational bottleneck due to the antisymmetry of the electronic thermal density matrix—we employ the recently proposed [Y. Xiong and H. Xiong, J. Chem. Phys. 157, 094112 (2022); T. Dornheim et al., J. Chem. Phys. 159, 164113 (2023)] ξ-extrapolation method and find excellent agreement with the exact direct PIMC reference data where available. This opens up the intriguing possibility of studying a gamut of properties of light elements and potentially material mixtures over a substantial part of the warm dense matter regime, with direct relevance for astrophysics, material science, and inertial confinement fusion research.