Meron-Cluster Solution of Fermion and Other Sign Problems

Numerical simulations of numerous quantum systems suffer from the notorious sign problem. Important examples include QCD and other field theories at non-zero chemical potential, at non-zero vacuum angle, or with an odd number of flavors, as well as the Hubbard model for high-temperature superconductivity and quantum antiferromagnets in an external magnetic field. In all these cases standard simulation algorithms require an exponentially large statistics in large space-time volumes and are thus impossible to use in practice. Meron-cluster algorithms realize a general strategy to solve severe sign problems but must be constructed for each individual case. They lead to a complete solution of the sign problem in several of the above cases.Comment: 15 pages,LATTICE9

Meron-Cluster Simulation of a Chiral Phase Transition with Staggered Fermions

We examine a (3+1)-dimensional model of staggered lattice fermions with a four-fermion interaction and Z(2) chiral symmetry using the Hamiltonian formulation. This model cannot be simulated with standard fermion algorithms because those suffer from a very severe sign problem. We use a new fermion simulation technique - the meron-cluster algorithm - which solves the sign problem and leads to high-precision numerical data. We investigate the finite temperature chiral phase transition and verify that it is in the universality class of the 3-d Ising model using finite-size scaling.Comment: 21 pages, 6 figure

Meron-cluster algorithms and chiral symmetry breaking in a (2+1)-d staggered fermion model

The recently developed Meron-Cluster algorithm completely solves the exponentially difficult sign problem for a number of models previously inaccessible to numerical simulation. We use this algorithm in a high-precision study of a model of N=1 flavor of staggered fermions in (2+1)-dimensions with a four-fermion interaction. This model cannot be explored using standard algorithms. We find that the Z(2) chiral symmetry of this model is spontaneously broken at low temperatures and that the finite-temperature chiral phase transition is in the universality class of the 2-d Ising model, as expected.Comment: 18 pages, LaTe

Further reflections on TOPKAT and Partial vs. Total Knee Replacement-response to authors

Response to: Carlson SW, Sierra RJ. Unicompartmental knee arthroplasty over total knee arthroplasty: a more cost-effective strategy for treating medial compartment arthritis. Ann Transl Med 2020;8:510. Argenson JNA, Jacquet C, Ollivier M. Medial femorotibial osteoarthritis of the knee: total or partial knee replacement? Ann Transl Med 2020;8:721.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

The Two-Dimensional S=1 Quantum Heisenberg Antiferromagnet at Finite Temperatures

The temperature dependence of the correlation length, susceptibilities and the magnetic structure factor of the two-dimensional spin-1 square lattice quantum Heisenberg antiferromagnet are computed by the quantum Monte Carlo loop algorithm (QMC). In the experimentally relevant temperature regime the theoretically predicted asymptotic low temperature behavior is found to be not valid. The QMC results however, agree reasonably well with the experimental measurements of La2NiO4 even without considering anisotropies in the exchange interactions.Comment: 4 Pages, 1 table, 4 figure

New Experimental limit on Optical Photon Coupling to Neutral, Scalar Bosons

We report on the first results of a sensitive search for scalar coupling of photons to a light neutral boson in the mass range of approximately 1.0 milli-electron volts and coupling strength greater than 10$^-6$ GeV$^-1$ using optical photons. This was a photon regeneration experiment using the "light shining through a wall" technique in which laser light was passed through a strong magnetic field upstream of an optical beam dump; regenerated laser light was then searched for downstream of a second magnetic field region optically shielded from the former. Our results show no evidence for scalar coupling in this region of parameter space.Comment: pdf-file, 10 pages, 4 figures, submitted to Physical Review Letter

Protocol for the United Kingdom Rotator Cuff Study (UKUFF) : a randomised controlled trial of open and arthroscopic rotator cuff repair

This project was funded by the NIHR Health Technology Assessment programme (project number 05/47/02). J. L. Rees has received a grant from Oxford University which is related to this paper. J. Dawson reports that Oxford University has received a grant from HTA which is related to this paper, as well as a study grant.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Protocol for a national monthly survey of alcohol use in England with 6-month follow-up: 'The Alcohol Toolkit Study'.

Timely tracking of national patterns of alcohol consumption is needed to inform and evaluate strategies and policies aimed at reducing alcohol-related harm. Between 2014 until at least 2017, the Alcohol Toolkit Study (ATS) will provide such tracking data and link these with policy changes and campaigns. By virtue of its connection with the 'Smoking Toolkit Study' (STS), links will also be examined between alcohol and smoking-related behaviour

The Square-Lattice Heisenberg Antiferromagnet at Very Large Correlation Lengths

The correlation length of the square-lattice spin-1/2 Heisenberg antiferromagnet is studied in the low-temperature (asymptotic-scaling) regime. Our novel approach combines a very efficient loop cluster algorithm -- operating directly in the Euclidean time continuum -- with finite-size scaling. This enables us to probe correlation lengths up to $\xi \approx 350,000$ lattice spacings -- more than three orders of magnitude larger than any previous study. We resolve a conundrum concerning the applicability of asymptotic-scaling formulae to experimentally- and numerically-determined correlation lengths, and arrive at a very precise determination of the low-energy observables. Our results have direct implications for the zero-temperature behavior of spin-1/2 ladders.Comment: 12 pages, RevTeX, plus two Postscript figures. Some minor modifications for final submission to Physical Review Letters. (accepted by PRL

QCD as a Quantum Link Model

QCD is constructed as a lattice gauge theory in which the elements of the link matrices are represented by non-commuting operators acting in a Hilbert space. The resulting quantum link model for QCD is formulated with a fifth Euclidean dimension, whose extent resembles the inverse gauge coupling of the resulting four-dimensional theory after dimensional reduction. The inclusion of quarks is natural in Shamir's variant of Kaplan's fermion method, which does not require fine-tuning to approach the chiral limit. A rishon representation in terms of fermionic constituents of the gluons is derived and the quantum link Hamiltonian for QCD with a U(N) gauge symmetry is expressed in terms of glueball, meson and constituent quark operators. The new formulation of QCD is promising both from an analytic and from a computational point of view.Comment: 27 pages, including three figures. ordinary LaTeX; Submitted to Nucl. Phys.