Particles, holes, and solitons: a matrix product state approach.

We introduce a variational method for calculating dispersion relations of translation invariant (1+1)-dimensional quantum field theories. The method is based on continuous matrix product states and can be implemented efficiently. We study the critical Lieb-Liniger model as a benchmark and excellent agreement with the exact solution is found. Additionally, we observe solitonic signatures of Lieb's type II excitation. In addition, a nonintegrable model is introduced where a U(1)-symmetry breaking term is added to the Lieb-Liniger Hamiltonian. For this model we find evidence of a nontrivial bound-state excitation in the dispersion relation.