Quantum Monte Carlo algorithm for nonlocal corrections to the dynamical mean-field approximation

We present the algorithmic details of the dynamical cluster approximation (DCA), with a quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) method used to solve the effective cluster problem. The DCA is a fully causal approach which systematically restores nonlocal correlations to the dynamical mean field approximation (DMFA) while preserving the lattice symmetries. The DCA becomes exact for an infinite cluster size, while reducing to the DMFA for a cluster size of unity. We present a generalization of the Hirsch-Fye QMC algorithm for the solution of the embedded cluster problem. We use the two-dimensional Hubbard model to illustrate the performance of the DCA technique. At half filling, we show that the DCA drives the spurious finite-temperature antiferromagnetic transition found in the DMFA slowly towards zero temperature as the cluster size increases, in conformity with the Mermin-Wagner theorem. Moreover, we find that there is a finite-temperature metal to insulator transition which persists into the weak-coupling regime. This suggests that the magnetism of the model is Heisenberg-like for all nonzero interactions. Away from half filling, we find that the sign problem that arises in QMC simulations is significantly less severe in the context of DCA. Hence, we were able to obtain good statistics for small clusters. For these clusters, the DCA results show evidence of non-Fermi-liquid behavior and superconductivity near half filling.