We introduce an efficient approach to implement neural network quantum states (NNQS) as trial wave functions in auxiliary-field quantum Monte Carlo (AFQMC). NNQS are a recently developed class of variational ansätze capable of flexibly representing many-body wave functions, though they often incur a high computational cost during optimization. AFQMC, on the other hand, is a powerful stochastic projector approach for ground-state calculations, but it normally requires an approximate constraint via a trial wave function or trial density matrix, whose quality affects the accuracy. Recently, it has been shown (Xiao et al., arXiv2505.18519) that a broad class of highly correlated wave functions can be integrated into AFQMC through stochastic sampling techniques. In this work, we apply this approach and present a direct integration of NNQS with AFQMC, allowing NNQS to serve as high-quality trial wave functions for AFQMC with manageable computational cost. We test the NNQS-AFQMC method on the challenging nitrogen molecule (N2) at stretched geometries. Our results demonstrate that AFQMC with an NNQS trial wave function can attain near-exact total energies, highlighting the potential of AFQMC with NNQS to overcome longstanding challenges in strongly correlated electronic structure calculations. We also outline future research directions for improving this promising methodology.
Xiao et al. (2025) studied this question.