Algorithms for finite projected entangled pair states

Projected entangled pair states (PEPS) are a promising ansatz for the study of strongly correlated quantum many-body systems in two dimensions. However, due to their high computational cost, developing and improving PEPS algorithms is necessary to make the ansatz widely usable in practice. Here we analyze several algorithmic aspects of the method. On the one hand, we quantify the connection between the correlation length of the PEPS and the accuracy of its approximate contraction and discuss how purifications can be used in the latter. On the other hand, we present algorithmic improvements for the update of the tensor that introduce drastic gains in the numerical conditioning and the efficiency of the algorithms. Finally, the state-of-the-art general PEPS code is benchmarked with the Heisenberg and quantum Ising models on lattices of up to 21 x 21 sites.