Generative Diffusion Models for Lattice Field Theory

This study delves into the connection between machine learning and lattice field theory by linking generative diffusion models (DMs) with stochastic quantization, from a stochastic differential equation perspective. We show that DMs can be conceptualized by reversing a stochastic process driven by the Langevin equation, which then produces samples from an initial distribution to approximate the target distribution. In a toy model, we highlight the capability of DMs to learn effective actions. Furthermore, we demonstrate its feasibility to act as a global sampler for generating configurations in the two-dimensional $\phi^4$ quantum lattice field theory.
Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, accepted at the NeurIPS 2023 workshop "Machine Learning and the Physical Sciences". Some contents overlap with arXiv:2309.17082