Lattice Gauge Actions for Fixed Topology

We test a set of lattice gauge actions for QCD that suppress small plaquette values and in this way also suppress transitions between topological sectors. This is well suited for simulations in the epsilon-regime and it is expected to help in numerical simulations with dynamical quarks.Comment: 3 pages. Talk presented at Quark Confinement and the Hadron Spectrum VI, Villasimius, Sardinia, Italy, September 21-25, 2004. References adde

Topology conserving gauge action and the overlap-Dirac operator

We apply the topology conserving gauge action proposed by Luescher to the four-dimensional lattice QCD simulation in the quenched approximation. With this gauge action the topological charge is stabilized along the hybrid Monte Carlo updates compared to the standard Wilson gauge action. The quark potential and renormalized coupling constant are in good agreement with the results obtained with the Wilson gauge action. We also investigate the low-lying eigenvalue distribution of the hermitian Wilson-Dirac operator, which is relevant for the construction of the overlap-Dirac operator.Comment: 27pages, 11figures, accepted versio

Meson Correlation Functions in the epsilon-Regime

We present a numerical pilot study of the meson correlation functions in the epsilon-regime of chiral perturbation theory. Based on simulations with overlap fermions we measured the axial and pseudo-scalar correlation functions, and we discuss the implications for the leading low energy constants in the chiral Lagrangian.Comment: 3 pages, 3 figures, talk presented at Lattice2003(chiral

Flavour Breaking Effects of Wilson twisted mass fermions

We study the flavour breaking effects appearing in the Wilson twisted mass formulation of lattice QCD. In this quenched study, we focus on the mass splitting between the neutral and the charged pion, determining the neutral pion mass with a stochastic noise method to evaluate the disconnected contributions. We find that these disconnected contributions are significant. Using the Osterwalder-Seiler interpretation of the connected piece of the neutral pion correlator, we compute the corresponding neutral pion mass to study with more precision the scaling behaviour of the mass splitting.Comment: 15 pages, 2 figure

Clear Experimental Signature of Charge-Orbital density wave in Nd1−x_{1-x}Ca1+x_{1+x}MnO4_{4}

Single Crystals of Nd$_{1-x}$Ca$_{1+x}$MnO$_{4}$ have been prepared by the travelling floating-zone method, and possible evidence of a charge -orbital density wave in this material presented earlier [PRB68,092405 (2003)] using High Resolution Electron Microscopy [HRTEM] and Electron Diffraction [ED]. In the current note we present direct evidence of charge-orbital ordering in this material using heat capacity measurements. Our heat capacity measurements indicate a clear transition consistent with prior observation. We find two main transitions, one at temperature $T_{_H}=310-314$ K, and other at $T_{_A}=143$ K. In addition, we may also conclude that there is a strong electron-phonon coupling in this material.Comment: 7 pages, 8 figure

The relation between gas density and velocity power spectra in galaxy clusters: qualitative treatment and cosmological simulations

We address the problem of evaluating the power spectrum of the velocity field of the ICM using only information on the plasma density fluctuations, which can be measured today by Chandra and XMM-Newton observatories. We argue that for relaxed clusters there is a linear relation between the rms density and velocity fluctuations across a range of scales, from the largest ones, where motions are dominated by buoyancy, down to small, turbulent scales: $(\delta\rho_k/\rho)^2 = \eta_1^2 (V_{1,k}/c_s)^2$, where $\delta\rho_k/\rho$ is the spectral amplitude of the density perturbations at wave number $k$, $V_{1,k}^2=V_k^2/3$ is the mean square component of the velocity field, $c_s$ is the sound speed, and $\eta_1$ is a dimensionless constant of order unity. Using cosmological simulations of relaxed galaxy clusters, we calibrate this relation and find $\eta_1\approx 1 \pm 0.3$. We argue that this value is set at large scales by buoyancy physics, while at small scales the density and velocity power spectra are proportional because the former are a passive scalar advected by the latter. This opens an interesting possibility to use gas density power spectra as a proxy for the velocity power spectra in relaxed clusters, across a wide range of scales.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, submitted to ApJ Letter

Twisted mass fermions: neutral pion masses from disconnected contributions

Twisted mass fermions allow light quarks to be explored but with the consequence that there are mass splittings, such as between the neutral and charged pion. Using a direct calculation of the connected neutral pion correlator and stochastic methods to evaluate the disconnected correlations, we determine the neutral pion mass. We explore the dependence on lattice spacing and quark mass in quenched QCD. For dynamical QCD, we determine the sign of the splitting which is linked, via chiral PT, to the nature of the phase transition at small quark mass.Comment: 6 pages, poster (hadron spectrum and quark masses) at Lattice 2005,Dublin, July 25-3