Finite Temperature QCD with Wilson Quarks: A Study with a Renormalization Group Improved Gauge Action

Finite temperature transition in lattice QCD with degenerate Wilson quarks is investigated on an $N_t=4$ lattice, using a renormalization group improved gauge action. We find the following for the $N_F=2$ case: 1) The transition is smooth for a wide range of the quark mass. 2) The chiral transition is continuous. 3) The chiral condensation well satisfies a scaling relation with the critical exponents of the 3 dimensional $O(4)$ spin model. For $N_F=3$, we find that the chiral transition is of first order.Comment: 4 pages (6 figures), Postscript file, Contribution to Lattice 95 proceeding

LIDA: A Working Model of Cognition

In this paper we present the LIDA architecture as a working model of cognition. We argue that such working models are broad in scope and address real world problems in comparison to experimentally based models which focus on specific pieces of cognition. While experimentally based models are useful, we need a working model of cognition that integrates what we know from neuroscience, cognitive science and AI. The LIDA architecture provides such a working model. A LIDA based cognitive robot or software agent will be capable of multiple learning mechanisms. With artificial feelings and emotions as primary motivators and learning facilitators, such systems will ‘live’ through a developmental period during which they will learn in multiple ways to act in an effective, human-like manner in complex, dynamic, and unpredictable environments. We discuss the integration of the learning mechanisms into the existing IDA architecture as a working model of cognition

Order of the Chiral and Continuum Limits in Staggered Chiral Perturbation Theory

Durr and Hoelbling recently observed that the continuum and chiral limits do not commute in the two dimensional, one flavor, Schwinger model with staggered fermions. I point out that such lack of commutativity can also be seen in four-dimensional staggered chiral perturbation theory (SChPT) in quenched or partially quenched quantities constructed to be particularly sensitive to the chiral limit. Although the physics involved in the SChPT examples is quite different from that in the Schwinger model, neither singularity seems to be connected to the trick of taking the nth root of the fermion determinant to remove unwanted degrees of freedom ("tastes"). Further, I argue that the singularities in SChPT are absent in most commonly-computed quantities in the unquenched (full) QCD case and do not imply any unexpected systematic errors in recent MILC calculations with staggered fermions.Comment: 14 pages, 1 figure. v3: Spurious symbol, introduced by conflicting tex macros, removed. Clarification of discussion in several place

Phase structure of QCD for general number of flavors

We investigate and elucidate the phase structure of QCD for general number of flavors $N_F$ with Wilson quarks, varying $N_F$ from 2 up to 300. Based on numerical results combined with the result of the perturbation theory we propose the following picture: When $N_F \ge 17$, there is only a trivial fixed point and therefore the theory in the continuum limit is trivial. On the other hand, when $16 \ge N_F \ge 7$, there is a non-trivial fixed point and therefore the theory is non-trivial with anomalous dimensions, however, without quark confinement. Theories which satisfy both quark confinement and spontaneous chiral symmetry breaking in the continuum limit exist only for $N_F \le 6$. We also discuss the structure of the deconfining phase at finite temperatures for the small number of flavors such as $N_F=2$ and 3, through a systematic study of it for general number of flavors.Comment: LaTeX, 7 pages, 10 PS figures, Talk presented at LATTICE96(poster) and LATTICE96(finite temperature

The QCD spectrum with three quark flavors

We present results from a lattice hadron spectrum calculation using three flavors of dynamical quarks - two light and one strange, and quenched simulations for comparison. These simulations were done using a one-loop Symanzik improved gauge action and an improved Kogut-Susskind quark action. The lattice spacings, and hence also the physical volumes, were tuned to be the same in all the runs to better expose differences due to flavor number. Lattice spacings were tuned using the static quark potential, so as a byproduct we obtain updated results for the effect of sea quarks on the static quark potential. We find indications that the full QCD meson spectrum is in better agreement with experiment than the quenched spectrum. For the 0++ (a0) meson we see a coupling to two pseudoscalar mesons, or a meson decay on the lattice.Comment: 38 pages, 20 figures, uses epsf. 5/29/01 revision responds to referee's Comments, changes pion fits and tables, and corrects Fig. 10 and some minor error

Thermodynamics with 3 and 2+1 Flavors of Improved Staggered Quarks

We present preliminary results from exploring the phase diagram of finite temperature QCD with three degenerate flavors and with two light flavors and the mass of the third held approximately at the strange quark mass. We use an order $\alpha_s^2 a^2, a^4$ Symanzik improved gauge action and an order $\alpha_s a^2, a^4$ improved staggered quark action. The improved staggered action leads to a dispersion relation with diminished lattice artifacts, and hence better thermodynamic properties. It decreases the flavor symmetry breaking of staggered quarks substantially, and we estimate that at the transition temperature for an $N_t=8$ to $N_t=10$ lattice {\em all} pions will be lighter than the lightest kaon. Preliminary results on lattices with $N_t=4$, 6 and 8 are presented.Comment: 3 pages, 6 figures, contribution to Lattice2001(hightemp) August 19--24, 2001, Berlin, German

Semileptonic Decays of D and B Mesons

We report results of our ongoing investigation concerning semileptonic decays of heavy pseudoscalar mesons into pseudoscalar and vector mesons. Particular attention is paid to uncertainties in the $q^2$ and the heavy quark mass dependence of formfactors. Moreover we present a non-perturbative test to the LMK current renormalization scheme for vector current transition matrix elements and find remarkable agreement.Comment: 3 pages, uuencoded, contribution to Lat 9

f_B for Various Actions : Approaching the Continuum Limit with Dynamical Fermions

We present results for pseudoscalar decay constants of heavy-light mesons using both quenched and N_f = 2 dynamical fermion configurations. A variety of fermion actions is investigated : Wilson, nonperturbative clover, and fat-link clover. For heavy quarks the Fermilab formalism is applied. In the quenched approximation, results with the nonperturbatively improved clover action of the Alpha collaboration allow us to study the systematic error of the continuum extrapolation from the Wilson action. In addition, we use quenched configurations to explore the effects of fattening. The lessons from the quenched analyses are then applied to data with dynamical fermions, where both Wilson and fat-link clover actions have been used. This allows us to attempt a continuum extrapolation of the dynamical results.Comment: Lattice 2000 (Heavy Quark Physics). 4 pages, 2 figure

Ambiguities of neutrino(antineutrino) scattering on the nucleon due to the uncertainties of relevant strangeness form factors

Strange quark contributions to neutrino(antineutrino) scattering are investigated on the nucleon level in the quasi-elastic region. The incident energy range between 500 MeV and 1.0 GeV is used for the scattering. All of the physical observable by the scattering are investigated within available experimental and theoretical results for the strangeness form factors of the nucleon. In specific, a newly combined data of parity violating electron scattering and neutrino scattering is exploited. Feasible quantities to be explored for the strangeness contents are discussed for the application to neutrino-nucleus scattering.Comment: 17 pages, 7 figures, submit to J. Phys.

Two-Flavor Staggered Fermion Thermodynamics at N_t = 12

We present results of an ongoing study of the nature of the high temperature crossover in QCD with two light fermion flavors. These results are obtained with the conventional staggered fermion action at the smallest lattice spacing to date---approximately 0.1 fm. Of particular interest are a study of the temperature of the crossover a determination of the induced baryon charge and baryon susceptibility, the scalar susceptibility, and the chiral order parameter, used to test models of critical behavior associated with chiral symmetry restoration. From our new data and published results for N_t = 4, 6, and 8, we determine the QCD magnetic equation of state from the chiral order parameter using O(4) and mean field critical exponents and compare it with the corresponding equation of state obtained from an O(4) spin model and mean field theory. We also present a scaling analysis of the Polyakov loop, suggesting a temperature dependent ``constituent quark free energy.''Comment: LaTeX 25 pages, 15 Postscript figure