Green’s functions from quantum cluster algorithms11This work is supported in part by funds provided by the US Department of Energy (DOE) under cooperative research agreement DE-FC02-94ER40818.

We show that cluster algorithms for quantum models have a meaning independent of the basis chosen to construct them. Using this idea, we propose a new method for measuring with little effort a whole class of Green’s functions, once a cluster algorithm for the partition function has been constructed. To explain the idea, we consider the quantum XY model and compute its two point Green’s function in various ways, showing that all of them are equivalent. We also provide numerical evidence confirming the analytic arguments. Similar techniques are applicable to other models. In particular, in the recently constructed quantum link models, the new technique allows us to construct improved estimators for Wilson loops and may lead to a very precise determination of the glueball spectrum.