Experiences with OpenMP in tmLQCD

An overview is given of the lessons learned from the introduction of multi-threading using OpenMP in tmLQCD. In particular, programming style, performance measurements, cache misses, scaling, thread distribution for hybrid codes, race conditions, the overlapping of communication and computation and the measurement and reduction of certain overheads are discussed. Performance measurements and sampling profiles are given for different implementations of the hopping matrix computational kernel.Comment: presented at the 31st International Symposium on Lattice Field Theory (Lattice 2013), 29 July - 3 August 2013, Mainz, German

The dynamics of thin vibrated granular layers

We describe a series of experiments and computer simulations on vibrated granular media in a geometry chosen to eliminate gravitationally induced settling. The system consists of a collection of identical spherical particles on a horizontal plate vibrating vertically, with or without a confining lid. Previously reported results are reviewed, including the observation of homogeneous, disordered liquid-like states, an instability to a `collapse' of motionless spheres on a perfect hexagonal lattice, and a fluctuating, hexagonally ordered state. In the presence of a confining lid we see a variety of solid phases at high densities and relatively high vibration amplitudes, several of which are reported for the first time in this article. The phase behavior of the system is closely related to that observed in confined hard-sphere colloidal suspensions in equilibrium, but with modifications due to the effects of the forcing and dissipation. We also review measurements of velocity distributions, which range from Maxwellian to strongly non-Maxwellian depending on the experimental parameter values. We describe measurements of spatial velocity correlations that show a clear dependence on the mechanism of energy injection. We also report new measurements of the velocity autocorrelation function in the granular layer and show that increased inelasticity leads to enhanced particle self-diffusion.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figure

Hadron-Hadron Interactions from Nf=2+1+1N_f=2+1+1 Lattice QCD: isospin-1 KKKK scattering length

We present results for the interaction of two kaons at maximal isospin. The calculation is based on $N_f=2+1+1$ flavour gauge configurations generated by the European Twisted Mass Collaboration with pion masses ranging from about $230$ to $450\,\textrm{MeV}$ at three values of the lattice spacing. The elastic scattering length $a_0^{I=1}$ is calculated at several values of the bare strange and light quark masses. We find $M_K a_0 = -0.385(16)_{\textrm{stat}} (^{+0}_{-12})_{m_s}(^{+0}_{-5})_{Z_P}(4)_{r_f}$ as the result of a combined extrapolation to the continuum and to the physical point, where the first error is statistical, and the three following are systematical. This translates to $a_0 = -0.154(6)_{\textrm{stat}}(^{+0}_{-5})_{m_s} (^{+0}_{-2})_{Z_P}(2)_{r_f}\,\textrm{fm}$.Comment: 28 pages, 18 tables, 14 figure

Hadron-Hadron Interactions from Nf=2+1+1N_f=2+1+1 Lattice QCD: isospin-2 ππ\pi\pi scattering length

We present results for the $I=2$ $\pi\pi$ scattering length using $N_f=2+1+1$ twisted mass lattice QCD for three values of the lattice spacing and a range of pion mass values. Due to the use of Laplacian Heaviside smearing our statistical errors are reduced compared to previous lattice studies. A detailed investigation of systematic effects such as discretisation effects, volume effects, and pollution of excited and thermal states is performed. After extrapolation to the physical point using chiral perturbation theory at NLO we obtain $M_\pi a_0=-0.0442(2)_\mathrm{stat}(^{+4}_{-0})_\mathrm{sys}$.Comment: Edited for typos, overhauled figures, more detailed comparison to existing lattice result

O(a^2) cutoff effects in lattice Wilson fermion simulations

In this paper we propose to interpret the large discretization artifacts affecting the neutral pion mass in maximally twisted lattice QCD simulations as O(a^2) effects whose magnitude is roughly proportional to the modulus square of the (continuum) matrix element of the pseudoscalar density operator between vacuum and one-pion state. The numerical size of this quantity is determined by the dynamical mechanism of spontaneous chiral symmetry breaking and turns out to be substantially larger than its natural magnitude set by the value of Lambda_QCD.Comment: 38 pages, 1 figure, 2 table

Non-equilibrium two-phase coexistence in a confined granular layer

We report the observation of the homogenous nucleation of crystals in a dense layer of steel spheres confined between two horizontal plates vibrated vertically. Above a critical vibration amplitude, two-layer crystals with square symmetry were found to coexist in steady state with a surrounding granular liquid. By analogy to equilibrium hard sphere systems, the phase behavior can be explained through entropy maximization. However, dramatic non-equilibrium effects are present, including a significant difference in the granular temperatures of the two phases.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, RevTex4 forma

Finite driving rates in interface models of Barkhausen noise

We consider a single-interface model for the description of Barkhausen noise in soft ferromagnetic materials. Previously, the model had been used only in the adiabatic regime of infinitely slow field ramping. We introduce finite driving rates and analyze the scaling of event sizes and durations for different regimes of the driving rate. Coexistence of intermittency, with non-trivial scaling laws, and finite-velocity interface motion is observed for high enough driving rates. Power spectra show a decay $\sim \omega^{-t}$, with $t<2$ for finite driving rates, revealing the influence of the internal structure of avalanches.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures, RevTeX, final version to be published in Phys. Rev.

Isospin-0 ππ\pi\pi s-wave scattering length from twisted mass lattice QCD

We present results for the isospin-0 $\pi\pi$ s-wave scattering length calculated with Osterwalder-Seiler valence quarks on Wilson twisted mass gauge configurations. We use three $N_f = 2$ ensembles with unitary (valence) pion mass at its physical value (250$\sim$MeV), at 240$\sim$MeV (320$\sim$MeV) and at 330$\sim$MeV (400$\sim$MeV), respectively. By using the stochastic Laplacian Heaviside quark smearing method, all quark propagation diagrams contributing to the isospin-0 $\pi\pi$ correlation function are computed with sufficient precision. The chiral extrapolation is performed to obtain the scattering length at the physical pion mass. Our result $M_\pi a^\mathrm{I=0}_0 = 0.198(9)(6)$ agrees reasonably well with various experimental measurements and theoretical predictions. Since we only use one lattice spacing, certain systematics uncertainties, especially those arising from unitary breaking, are not controlled in our result.Comment: 21 pages, 5 figures, 6 table