Wave function matching for the quantum many-body problem*

We introduce a new approach for solving quantum many-body systems called wave function matching. Wave function matching transforms the interaction between particles so that the wave functions at short distances match that of an easily computable interaction. This allows for calculations of systems that would otherwise be impossible due to problems such as Monte Carlo sign cancellations. We apply the method to lattice Monte Carlo simulations of light nuclei, medium-mass nuclei, neutron matter, and nuclear matter. We use interactions at next-to-next-to-next-to-leading order in the framework of chiral effective field theory and find good agreement with empirical data. These results are accompanied by new insights on the nuclear interactions that may help to resolve long-standing challenges in accurately reproducing nuclear binding energies, charge radii, and nuclear matter saturation in ab initio calculations.