Effect of Improving the Lattice Gauge Action on QCD Topology

We use lattice topology as a laboratory to compare the Wilson action (WA) with the Symanzik-Weisz (SW) action constructed from a combination of (1x1) and (1x2) Wilson loops, and the estimate of the renormalization trajectory (RT) from a renormalization group transformation (RGT) which also includes higher representations of the (1x1) loop. Topological charges are computed using the geometric (L\"uscher's) and plaquette methods on the uncooled lattice, and also by using cooling to remove ultraviolet artifacts. We show that as the action improves by approaching the RT, the topological charges for individual configurations computed using these three methods become more highly correlated, suggesting that artificial lattice renormalizations to the topological susceptibility can be suppressed by improving the action.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, poster presented at LATTICE96(improvement

The Eta-prime and Cooling with Staggered Fermions

We present a calculation of the mass of the eta-prime meson using quenched and dynamical staggered fermions. We also discuss the effects of "cooling" and suggest its use as a quantitative tool.Comment: 4 pages, LaTeX with 7 EPS figs, contribution to Lattice 9

Weak matrix elements for CP violation

We present preliminary results of matrix elements of four-fermion operators relevant to the determination of e and e'/e using staggered fermions.Comment: 3 pages, 4 figures, Lattice 2001 (Hadronic Matrix Elements

Kaon B parameter from quenched Lattice QCD

We present results of a large-scale simulation for the Kaon B parameter $B_K$ in quenched lattice QCD with the Kogut-Susskind quark action. Calculating $B_K$ at 1% statistical accuracy for seven values of lattice spacing in the range $a\approx 0.24-0.04$ fm on lattices up to $56^3\times 96$, we verify a quadratic $a$ dependence of $B_K$ theoretically predicted. Strong indications are found that, with our level of accuracy, $\alpha_{\bar{MS}}(1/a)^2$ terms arising from our one-loop matching procedure have to be included in the continuum extrapolation. We present $B_K$(NDR, 2 GeV)=0.628(42) as our final value, as obtained by a fit including the $\alpha_{\bar{MS}}(1/a)^2$ term.Comment: 8 pages, Latex(revtex, epsf), 2 epsf figure

Staggered fermion matrix elements using smeared operators

We investigate the use of two kinds of staggered fermion operators, smeared and unsmeared. The smeared operators extend over a $4^4$ hypercube, and tend to have smaller perturbative corrections than the corresponding unsmeared operators. We use these operators to calculate kaon weak matrix elements on quenched ensembles at $\beta=6.0$, 6.2 and 6.4. Extrapolating to the continuum limit, we find $B_K(NDR, 2 GeV)= 0.62\pm 0.02(stat)\pm 0.02(syst)$. The systematic error is dominated by the uncertainty in the matching between lattice and continuum operators due to the truncation of perturbation theory at one-loop. We do not include any estimate of the errors due to quenching or to the use of degenerate $s$ and $d$ quarks. For the $\Delta I = {3/2}$ electromagnetic penguin operators we find $B_7^{(3/2)} = 0.62\pm 0.03\pm 0.06$ and $B_8^{(3/2)} = 0.77\pm 0.04\pm 0.04$. We also use the ratio of unsmeared to smeared operators to make a partially non-perturbative estimate of the renormalization of the quark mass for staggered fermions. We find that tadpole improved perturbation theory works well if the coupling is chosen to be \alpha_\MSbar(q^*=1/a).Comment: 22 pages, 1 figure, uses eps

Calculating weak matrix elements using HYP staggered fermions

We present preliminary results of weak matrix elements relevant to CP violation calculated using the HYP (II) staggered fermions. Since the complete set of matching coefficients at the one-loop level became available recently, we have constructed lattice operators with all the $g^2$ corrections included. The main results include both $\Delta I = 3/2$ and $\Delta I = 1/2$ contributions.Comment: 4 figures, Contribution to Lattice 200