Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 17, 2026

Experimental Investigation of Secondary Flow Structures Downstream of a Model Type IV Stent Failure in a 180° Curved Artery Test Section
Published on: July 19, 2016
Energy and variance optimization of many-body wave functions
1Theory Center and Laboratory of Atomic and Solid State Physics, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, USA.
Abstract:
We present a simple, robust, and efficient method for varying the parameters in a many-body wave function to optimize the expectation value of the energy. The effectiveness of the method is demonstrated by optimizing the parameters in flexible Jastrow factors that include 3-body electron-electron-nucleus correlation terms for the NO2 and decapentaene (C10H12) molecules. The basic idea is to add terms to the straightforward expression for the Hessian of the energy that have zero expectation value, but that cancel much of the statistical fluctuations for a finite Monte Carlo sample. The method is compared to what is currently the most popular method for optimizing many-body wave functions, namely, minimization of the variance of the local energy. The most efficient wave function is obtained by optimizing a linear combination of the energy and the variance.
Related Concept Videos
Wave Parameters
Equations of Wave Motion
Kinetic and Potential Energy of a Wave
In mechanical waves, the amount of energy is related to their amplitude and frequency. In the context of the above examples, large-amplitude earthquakes produce large ground...
Energy and Power of a Wave
Waves can also be concentrated or spread out, as characterized by the intensity of the wave. Intensity is directly...
Work and Energy for Variable Forces
Effective Value of a Periodic Waveform
The effective value of a periodic current represents the direct current (DC) that conveys the same average power to a resistor as the periodic current itself. This concept is crucial when assessing AC circuits. To determine the...

