A Gaussian Variational Approach to cMERA for Interacting Fields

We use the Gaussian variational principle to apply cMERA to interacting quantum field theories in arbitrary spacetime dimensions. By establishing a correspondence between the first two terms in the variational expansion and the Gaussian Effective Potential, we can exactly solve for a variational approximation to the cMERA entangler. As examples, we treat scalar ${\phi }^4$ theory and the Gross-Neveu model and extract non-perturbative behavior. We also comment on the connection between generalized squeezed coherent states and more generic entanglers.