Constrained-path quantum Monte Carlo approach for the nuclear shell model.

A new quantum Monte Carlo approach is proposed to investigate low-lying states of nuclei within the shell model. The formalism relies on a variational symmetry-restored wave function to guide the underlying Brownian motion. Sign or phase problems that usually plague quantum Monte Carlo fermionic simulations are controlled by constraining stochastic paths through a fixed-node-like approximation. Exploratory results in the sd and pf valence spaces with realistic effective interactions are presented. They prove the ability of the scheme to yield nearly exact yrast spectroscopies for both even- and odd-mass nuclei.