A leap into the continuum

Computing the dynamics of many interacting quantum particles accurately is a daunting task. There is however a promising calculation method for such systems: tensor networks, which are being researched in the theory division at the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics. The initial focus of tensor network was on quantum particles restricted to a lattice, just as they occur in crystals for example, or in the quantum registers of future quantum computers. In a new paper, the postdoctoral researcher Antoine Tilloy and the theory division director Ignacio Cirac managed to extend this approach to the continuum. A goal in the long run is an elegant calculation method for the quantum field theories that describes the basic forces of physics.