Compactness of quantics tensor train representations of local imaginary-time propagators

Space-time dependence of imaginary-time propagators, vital for ab initio and many-body calculations based on quantum field theories, has been revealed to be compressible using Quantum Tensor Trains (QTTs) [Phys. Rev. X { 13}, 021015 (2023)]. However, the impact of system parameters, like temperature, on data size remains underexplored. This paper provides a comprehensive numerical analysis of the compactness of local imaginary-time propagators in QTT for one-time/-frequency objects and two-time/-frequency objects, considering truncation in terms of the Frobenius and maximum norms. We employ random pole models to study worst-case scenarios. The numerical analysis reveals several key findings. For one-time/-frequency objects and two-time/-frequency objects, the bond dimensions saturate at low temperatures, especially for truncation in terms of the Frobenius norm. We provide counting-number arguments for the saturation of bond dimensions for the one-time/-frequency objects, while the origin of this saturation for two-time/-frequency objects remains to be clarified. This paper's findings highlight the critical need for further research on the selection of truncation methods, tolerance levels, and the choice between imaginary-time and imaginary-frequency representations in practical applications.