Efficient tensor network simulation of quantum many-body physics on sparse graphs*

We study tensor network states defined on an underlying graph which is sparsely connected. Generic sparse graphs are expander graphs with a high probability, and one can represent volume law entangled states efficiently with only polynomial resources. We find that message-passing inference algorithms such as belief propagation can lead to efficient computation of local expectation values for a class of tensor network states defined on sparse graphs. As applications, we study local properties of square root states, graph states, and also employ this method to variationally prepare ground states of gapped Hamiltonians defined on generic graphs. Using the variational method we study the phase diagram of the transverse field quantum Ising model defined on sparse expander graphs.