Interacting electrons on a quantum ring: exact and variational approach

We study a system of interacting electrons on a one-dimensional (1D) quantum ring using exact diagonalization (ED) and the variational quantum Monte Carlo (VMC) method. We examine the accuracy of the Slater - Jastrow- type many-body wavefunction and compare energies and pair distribution functions obtained from the two approaches. Our results show that this wavefunction captures most correlation effects. We then study the smooth transition to a regime where the electrons localize in the rotating frame, which for the ultra-thin quantum ring system happens at quite high electron density.