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Quantum Foundations
Essentially No Energy Barrier Between Independent Fermionic Neural Quantum State Minima
arXiv
Authors: David D. Dai, Marin Soljačić
Year
2026
Paper ID
3979
Status
Preprint
Abstract Read
~2 min
Abstract Words
174
Citations
N/A
Abstract
Neural quantum states (NQS) have proven highly effective in representing quantum many-body wavefunctions, but their loss landscape remains poorly understood and debated. Here, we demonstrate that the NQS loss landscape is more benign and similar to conventional deep learning than previously thought, exhibiting mode connectivity: independently trained NQS are connected by paths in parameter space with essentially no energy barrier. To construct these paths, we develop GeoNEB, a path optimizer integrating efficient stochastic reconfiguration with the nudged elastic band method for constructing minimum energy paths. For the strongly interacting six-electron quantum dot modeled by a 1.6M-parameter Psiformer, we find two independent minima with expected energy barrier sim10-5 times smaller than the system's overall energy scale and sim10-3 times smaller than the linear path's barrier. The path respects physical symmetry in addition to achieving low energy, with the angular momentum remaining well quantized throughout. Our work is the first to construct optimized paths between independently trained NQS, and it suggests that the NQS loss landscape may not be as pathological as once feared.
Why This Paper Matters
- This paper contributes to the Quantum Foundations research area in the Quantum Articles archive.
- It adds a 2026 reference point for readers tracking recent quantum research.
- Neural quantum states (NQS) have proven highly effective in representing quantum many-body wavefunctions, but their loss landscape remains poorly understood and debated.
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