Scale Determination Using the Static Potential with Two Dynamical Quark Flavors

We study the static potential using gauge configurations that include the effects of two flavors of dynamical Kogut-Susskind quarks. The configurations, generated by the MILC collaboration, and used to study the spectrum and heavy-light decay constants, cover a range $5.3 \le 6/g^2 \le 5.6$. There are at least four quark masses for each coupling studied. Determination of $r_0$ from the potential can be used to set a scale. This alternative scale is useful to study systematic errors on the spectrum and decay constants.Comment: LATTICE99(spectrum) - 3 pages, 4 figure

Topology and Low Lying Fermion Modes

Recent results concerning the relation of topology and low-lying fermion modes are summarized.Comment: Lattice2001(plenary), 9 pages, 9 figure

Mixed Meson Masses with Domain-Wall Valence and Staggered Sea Fermions

Mixed action lattice calculations allow for an additive lattice spacing dependent mass renormalization of mesons composed of one sea and one valence quark, regardless of the type of fermion discretization methods used in the valence and sea sectors. The value of the mass renormalization depends upon the lattice actions used. This mixed meson mass shift is an important lattice artifact to determine for mixed action calculations; because it modifies the pion mass, it plays a central role in the low energy dynamics of all hadronic correlation functions. We determine the leading order, $\mathcal{O}(a^2)$, and next to leading order, $\mathcal{O}(a^2 m_\pi^2)$, additive mass shift of \textit{valence-sea} mesons for a mixed lattice action with domain-wall valence fermions and rooted staggered sea fermions, relevant to the majority of current large scale mixed action lattice efforts. We find that on the asqtad improved coarse MILC lattices, this additive mass shift is well parameterized in lattice units by $\Delta(am)^2 = 0.034(2) -0.06(2) (a m_\pi)^2$, which in physical units, using $a=0.125$ fm, corresponds to $\Delta(m)^2 = (291\pm 8 \textrm{MeV})^2 -0.06(2) m_\pi^2$. In terms of the mixed action effective field theory parameters, the corresponding mass shift is given by $a^2 \Delta_\mathrm{Mix} = (316 \pm 4 \textrm{MeV})^2$ at leading order plus next-to-leading order corrections including the necessary chiral logarithms for this mixed action calculation, determined in this work. Within the precision of our calculation, one can not distinguish between the full next-to-leading order effective field theory analysis of this additive mixed meson mass shift and the parameterization given above.Comment: 28 pages, 3 figures, 5 table

Electromagnetic Hadronic Form-Factors

We present a calculation of the nucleon electromagnetic form-factors as well as the pion and rho to pion transition form-factors in a hybrid calculation with domain wall valence quarks and improved staggered (Asqtad) sea quarks.Comment: 3 pages, 5 figures, Lattice2004(spectrum

Lattice QCD at finite temperature

Recent developments in finite-temperature QCD with dynamical quarks are reviewed focusing on the topics of critical temperature, the equation of state, and critical behaviors around the chiral phase transition.Comment: Lattice 2000 (Plenary), 8 pages, 11 figure

The nucleon axial-vector coupling beyond one loop

We analyze the nucleon axial-vector coupling to two loops in chiral perturbation theory. We show that chiral extrapolations based on this representation require lattice data with pion masses below 300 MeV.Comment: 9 pp, 2 fig

String breaking in Lattice QCD

The separation of a heavy quark and antiquark pair leads to the formation of a tube of flux, or string, which should break in the presence of light quark-antiquark pairs. This expected zero temperature phenomenon has proven elusive in simulations of lattice QCD. We present simulation results that show that the string does break in the confining phase at nonzero temperature.Comment: LATTICE98(hightemp), 3 pages, 4 figures, LaTe

Overlap Fermions on a 20420^4 Lattice

We report results on hadron masses, fitting of the quenched chiral log, and quark masses from Neuberger's overlap fermion on a quenched $20^4$ lattice with lattice spacing $a = 0.15$ fm. We used the improved gauge action which is shown to lower the density of small eigenvalues for $H^2$ as compared to the Wilson gauge action. This makes the calculation feasible on 64 nodes of CRAY-T3E. Also presented is the pion mass on a small volume ($6^3 \times 12$ with a Wilson gauge action at $\beta = 5.7$). We find that for configurations that the topological charge $Q \ne 0$, the pion mass tends to a constant and for configurations with trivial topology, it approaches zero possibly linearly with the quark mass.Comment: Lattice 2000 (Chiral Fermion), 4 pages, 4 figure

Strong-Isospin Violation in the Neutron-Proton Mass Difference from Fully-Dynamical Lattice QCD and PQQCD

We determine the strong-isospin violating component of the neutron-proton mass difference from fully-dynamical lattice QCD and partially-quenched QCD calculations of the nucleon mass, constrained by partially-quenched chiral perturbation theory at one-loop level. The lattice calculations were performed with domain-wall valence quarks on MILC lattices with rooted staggered sea-quarks at a lattice spacing of b=0.125 fm, lattice spatial size of L=2.5 fm and pion masses ranging from m_pi ~ 290 MeV to ~ 350 MeV. At the physical value of the pion mass, we predict M_n - M_p |(d-u) = 2.26 +- 0.57 +- 0.42 +- 0.10 MeV where the first error is statistical, the second error is due to the uncertainty in the ratio of light-quark masses, eta=m_u/m_d, determined by MILC, and the third error is an estimate of the systematic due to chiral extrapolation.Comment: 14 pages, 11 figure

Nucleon Structure from Lattice QCD

Recent advances in lattice field theory, in computer technology and in chiral perturbation theory have enabled lattice QCD to emerge as a powerful quantitative tool in understanding hadron structure. I describe recent progress in the computation of the nucleon form factors and moments of parton distribution functions, before proceeding to describe lattice studies of the Generalized Parton Distributions (GPDs). In particular, I show how lattice studies of GPDs contribute to building a three-dimensional picture of the proton. I conclude by describing the prospects for studying the structure of resonances from lattice QCD.Comment: 6 pages, invited plenary talk at NSTAR 2007, 5-8 September 2007, Bonn, German