Simple proof that there is no sign problem in Path Integral Monte Carlo simulations of fermions in one dimension

Abstract

It is widely known that there is no sign problem in Path Integral Monte Carlo (PIMC) simulations of fermions in one dimension. Yet, as far as the author is aware, there is no direct proof of this in the literature. This work shows that the $sign$ of the $N$-fermion anti-symmetric free propagator is given by the product of all possible pairs of particle separations, or relative displacements. For a non-vanishing closed-loop product of such propagators, as required by PIMC, all relative displacements from adjacent propagators are paired into perfect squares, and therefore the loop product must be positive, but only in one dimension. By comparison, permutation sampling, which does not evaluate the determinant of the anti-symmetric propagator exactly, remains plagued by a low-level sign problem, even in one dimension.

10 pages, no figure