Monte Carlo simulation of 1+1-dimensional φ⁴ quantum field theory

We report results of a Monte Carlo simulation of the $\phi^4$ quantum field theory using multigrid simulation techniques and a refined discretization scheme. The resulting accuracy of our data allows for a significant test of an analytical approximation based on a variational ansatz. While the variational approximation is well reproduced for a large range of parameters we find significant deviations for low temperatures and large couplings.