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We extend the scope of full configuration interaction quantum Monte Carlo (FCIQMC) to be applied to coupled fermion-boson hamiltonians, alleviating the a priori truncation in boson occupation which is necessary for many other wave function based approaches to be tractable. Detailing the required algorithmic changes for efficient excitation generation, we apply FCIQMC in two contrasting settings. The first is a sign-problem-free Hubbard--Holstein model of local electron-phonon interactions, where we show that with care to control for population bias via importance sampling and/or reweighting, the method can achieve unbiased energies extrapolated to the thermodynamic limit, without suffering additional computational overheads from relaxing boson occupation constraints. Secondly, we apply the method as a `solver' within a quantum embedding scheme which maps electronic systems to local electron-boson auxiliary models, with the bosons representing coupling to long-range plasmonic-like fluctuations. We are able to sample these general electron-boson hamiltonians with ease despite a formal sign problem, including a faithful reconstruction of converged reduced density matrices of the system.

An adaptation of the full configuration interaction quantum Monte Carlo (FCIQMC) method is presented, for correlated electron problems containing heavy elements and the presence of significant relativistic effects. The modified algorithm allows for the sampling of the four-component spinors of the Dirac--Coulomb(--Breit) Hamiltonian within the relativistic no-pair approximation. The loss of spin symmetry and the general requirement for complex-valued Hamiltonian matrix elements are the most immediate considerations in expanding the scope of FCIQMC into the relativistic domain, and the alternatives for their efficient implementation are motivated and demonstrated. For the canonical correlated four-component chemical benchmark application of Thallium Hydride, we show that the necessary modifications do not particularly adversely affect the convergence of the systematic (initiator) error to the exact correlation energy for FCIQMC calculations, which is primarily dictated by the sparsity of the wave function, allowing the computational effort to somewhat bypass the formal increases in Hilbert space dimension for these problems. We apply the method to the larger problem of the spectroscopic constants of Tin Oxide, correlating 28 electrons in 122 Kramers-paired spinors, finding good agreement with experimental and prior theoretical relativistic studies., Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures

We identify the dominant computational cost within the recently introduced stochastic and internally contracted FCIQMC-NEVPT2 method for large active space sizes. This arises from the contribution to the four-body intermediates arising from low-excitation level sampled determinant pairs. We develop an effective way to mitigate this cost via an additional stochastic step within the sampling of the required NEVPT2 intermediates. We find this systematically improvable additional sampling can reduce simulation time by 80\% without introducing appreciable error. This saving is expected to increase for larger active spaces. We combine this enhanced sampling scheme with full stochastic orbital optimization for the first time, and apply it to find FCIQMC-NEVPT2 energies for spin states of an iron porphyrin system within (24,24) active spaces with relatively meagre computational resources. This active space size can now be considered as routine for NEVPT2 calculations of strongly correlated molecular systems within this improved stochastic methodology., Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures

We present NECI, a state-of-the-art implementation of the Full Configuration Interaction Quantum Monte Carlo algorithm, a method based on a stochastic application of the Hamiltonian matrix on a sparse sampling of the wave function. The program utilizes a very powerful parallelization and scales efficiently to more than 24000 CPU cores. In this paper, we describe the core functionalities of NECI and recent developments. This includes the capabilities to calculate ground and excited state energies, properties via the one- and two-body reduced density matrices, as well as spectral and Green's functions for ab initio and model systems. A number of enhancements of the bare FCIQMC algorithm are available within NECI, allowing to use a partially deterministic formulation of the algorithm, working in a spin-adapted basis or supporting transcorrelated Hamiltonians. NECI supports the FCIDUMP file format for integrals, supplying a convenient interface to numerous quantum chemistry programs and it is licensed under GPL-3.0., Comment: 68 pages, 8 figures. To be published in the Journal of Chemical Physics, full supplementary files are to be published together with the article

Full Configuration Interaction Quantum Monte Carlo (FCIQMC) has been effectively applied to very large configuration interaction (CI) problems, and was recently adapted for use as an active space solver and combined with orbital optimisation. In this work, we detail an approach within FCIQMC to allow for efficient sampling of fully internally-contracted multireference perturbation theories within the same stochastic framework. Schemes are described to allow for the close control over the resolution of stochastic sampling of the effective higher-body intermediates within the active space. It is found that while CASPT2 seems less amenable to a stochastic reformulation, NEVPT2 is far more stable, requiring a similar number of walkers to converge the NEVPT2 expectation values as to converge the underlying CI problem. We demonstrate the application of the stochastic approach to the computation of NEVPT2 within a (24,24) active space in a biologically relevant system, and show that small numbers of walkers are sufficient for a faithful sampling of the NEVPT2 energy to chemical accuracy, despite the active space already exceeding the limits of practicality for traditional approaches. This raises prospects of an efficient stochastic solver for multireference chemical problems requiring large active spaces, with an accurate treatment of external orbitals., Comment: 18 pages, 8 figures

A large collaboration carefully benchmarks 20 first principles many-body electronic structure methods on a test set of 7 transition metal atoms, and their ions and monoxides. Good agreement is attained between the 3 systematically converged methods, resulting in experiment-free reference values. These reference values are used to assess the accuracy of modern emerging and scalable approaches to the many-electron problem. The most accurate methods obtain energies indistinguishable from experimental results, with the agreement mainly limited by the experimental uncertainties. Comparison between methods enables a unique perspective on calculations of many-body systems of electrons., Comment: Simons collaboration on the many-electron problem

Neuroscientists are now able to acquire data at staggering rates across spatiotemporal scales. However, our ability to capitalize on existing datasets, tools, and intellectual capacities is hampered by technical challenges. The key barriers to accelerating scientific discovery correspond to the FAIR data principles: findability, global access to data, software interoperability, and reproducibility/re-usability. We conducted a hackathon dedicated to making strides in those steps. This manuscript is a technical report summarizing these achievements, and we hope serves as an example of the effectiveness of focused, deliberate hackathons towards the advancement of our quickly-evolving field., Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures, hackathon report

While many neuroscience questions aim to understand the human brain, much current knowledge has been gained using animal models, which replicate genetic, structural, and connectivity aspects of the human brain. While voxel-based analysis (VBA) of preclinical magnetic resonance images is widely-used, a thorough examination of the statistical robustness, stability, and error rates is hindered by high computational demands of processing large arrays, and the many parameters involved. Thus, workflows are often based on intuition or experience, while preclinical validation studies remain scarce. To increase throughput and reproducibility of quantitative small animal brain studies, we have developed a publicly shared, high throughput VBA pipeline in a high-performance computing environment, called SAMBA. The increased computational efficiency allowed large multidimensional arrays to be processed in 1-3 days, a task that previously took ~1 month. To quantify the variability and reliability of preclinical VBA in rodent models, we propose a validation framework consisting of morphological phantoms, and four metrics. This addresses several sources that impact VBA results, including registration and template construction strategies. We have used this framework to inform the VBA workflow parameters in a VBA study for a mouse model of epilepsy. We also present initial efforts towards standardizing small animal neuroimaging data in a similar fashion with human neuroimaging. We conclude that verifying the accuracy of VBA merits attention, and should be the focus of a broader effort within the community. The proposed framework promotes consistent quality assurance of VBA in preclinical neuroimaging; facilitating the creation and communication of robust results., Comment: 48 pages, 9 Figures, 3 Tables, 1 Suppl Table, 7 SupplementaryTables

This report describes the first phase of a two-phase study of the condition and needs of the live professional theatre in America since the mid-1960s. Data contained in the report were collected and analyzed on the following aspects of the theatre: finances, productions, performances, facilities, labor force, and employment. The first chapter provides an overview of the study. The examination of theatre activity in chapter II shows interdependence between the activities of the profit and nonprofit sectors. Theatre finances are detailed in the third chapter and reveal a cost-revenue squeeze. An investigation of theatre audiences and the attitudes of Americans toward the theatre arts in the fourth chapter shows that approximately 20 million Americans attended at least one live professional theatre performance during the 1976-77 season, and that the individuals' propensities to attend performances depends strongly upon the experience of having done so and the opportunity to do so. The fifth chapter examines some data that describe the people who are employed or seek employment in the theatre and shows that the jobs performed by these people encompass a wide variety of tasks. The final chapter examines some of the innovations taking place in theatre operations that are contributing to financial stability, with particular attention to ticket sales, technological advances, and management and financial considerations. (HOD)

This report presents a summary of the results of the first phase of a two-phase study of the condition and needs of the live professional theatre in America since the mid-1960s. Data contained in the report were collected and analyzed on the following aspects of the theatre: activity, audience, earnings, employment, facilities, finances, labor force, and innovations. Among the findings presented are (1) one out of every ten adults attended a live professional theatre performance in the past year and one in three attended some kind of theatrical performance; (2) attendance on Broadway has shown no long term tendency to increase or decrease; (3) the number of new plays produced each year has doubled since 1969; (4) the current cost of producing a Broadway musical has increased at a rate of approximately 5% per year since the mid-1960s; (5) the cast size of musicals produced on Broadway has fallen; (6) there is a relatively rapid growth in the size of the theatre labor force as measured by the rates of growth of membership in unions and associations representing theatre artists; (7) increases in weekly wage rates in theatre occupations generally have equaled or exceeded the rate of inflation; (8) many theatre professionals derive almost as much of their total income from outside employment as they do from the theatre; and (9) the struggle to remain financially viable has assumed other forms, including new methods for increasing revenues and new production and management methods. The report concludes that the theatre may be in for a period of retrenchment if substantial new sources of revenues are not found. (HOD)