Auxiliary-field Monte Carlo methods

I discuss Monte Carlo algorithms for quantum many-body systems that employ an auxiliary field to linearize a two-body interaction. These reduce the evaluation of the partition function to sampling many one-body evolutions in a fluctuating field. Fermions and bosons are treated on an equal footing. Applications to potential models and to quantum spin systems are discussed. This work was supported in part by the National Science Foundation, grants PHY82-07332 and PHY85-05682. The potential-model studies were done in collaboration with G. Sugiyama, while A. Khan and T. Troudet were responsible for the work on the quantum spin systems.