Pion Form Factor in the kTk_T Factorization Formalism

Based on the light-cone (LC) framework and the $k_T$ factorization formalism, the transverse momentum effects and the different helicity components' contributions to the pion form factor $F_{\pi}(Q^2)$ are recalculated. In particular, the contribution to the pion form factor from the higher helicity components ($\lambda_1+\lambda_2=\pm 1$), which come from the spin-space Wigner rotation, are analyzed in the soft and hard energy regions respectively. Our results show that the right power behavior of the hard contribution from the higher helicity components can only be obtained by fully keeping the $k_T$ dependence in the hard amplitude, and that the $k_T$ dependence in LC wave function affects the hard and soft contributions substantially. As an example, we employ a model LC wave function to calculate the pion form factor and then compare the numerical predictions with the experimental data. It is shown that the soft contribution is less important at the intermediate energy region.Comment: 21 pages, 4 figure

The D234 action for light quarks

We investigate a new light fermion action (the ``D234'' action), which is accurate up to \O(a^3) and tadpole-improved \O(a \alpha_s) errors. Using D234 with Symanzik- and tadpole-improved glue we find evidence that continuum results for the quenched hadron spectrum (pion, rho and nucleon) can be obtained on coarse lattices.Comment: Latex, 4 pages, submitted to Lattice '95 proceeding

Flavor-Symmetry Restoration and Symanzik Improvement for Staggered Quarks

We resolve contradictions in the literature concerning the origins and size of unphysical flavor-changing strong interactions generated by the staggered-quark discretization of QCD. We show that the leading contributions are tree-level in \order(a^2) and that they can be removed by adding three correction terms to the link operator in the standard action. These corrections are part of the systematic Symanzik improvement of the staggered-quark action. We present a new improved action for staggered quarks that is accurate up to errors of \order(a^4,a^2\alpha_s) --- more accurate than most, if not all, other discretizations of light-quark dynamics.Comment: 7 page

P-wave meson properties with Wilson quarks

We describe two calculations involving P-wave mesons made of Wilson quarks: the strong coupling constant $\alpha_s$ in the presence of two flavors of light dynamical fermions and the mass and decay constant of the $a_1$ meson.Comment: Poster presented at Lattice '94, September 27--October 1, 1994, Bielefeld, Germany (no changes to manuscript, but correction of Authors list above

fBf_B and fBsf_{B_s} using NRQCD

This talk summarizes the quenched calculation of $f_B$ and $f_{B_s}$ presented in hep-lat/9801038. The heavy quark is simulated using an $O(1/M^2)$ improved NRQCD action, and the tadpole improved clover action is used for the light quarks. The axial current includes the $O(1/M)$ corrections in one-loop perturbation theory and the $O(1/M^2)$ ones at tree-level. We discuss the various systematic effects and consistency checks made in the calculation.Comment: 3 pages. Makefile and sources included. Talk presented at LATTICE98 (HEAVYQK

Quarkonium spin structure in lattice NRQCD

Numerical simulations of the quarkonium spin splittings are done in the framework of lattice nonrelativistic quantum chromodynamics (NRQCD). At leading order in the velocity expansion the spin splittings are of $O(M_Q v^4)$, where $M_Q$ is the renormalized quark mass and $v^2$ is the mean squared quark velocity. A systematic analysis is done of all next-to-leading order corrections. This includes the addition of $O(M_Q v^6)$ relativistic interactions, and the removal of $O(a^2 M_Q v^4)$ discretization errors in the leading-order interactions. Simulations are done for both S- and P-wave mesons, with a variety of heavy quark actions and over a wide range of lattice spacings. Two prescriptions for the tadpole improvement of the action are also studied in detail: one using the measured value of the average plaquette, the other using the mean link measured in Landau gauge. Next-to-leading order interactions result in a very large reduction in the charmonium splittings, down by about 60% from their values at leading order. There are further indications that the velocity expansion may be poorly convergent for charmonium. Prelimary results show a small correction to the hyperfine splitting in the Upsilon system.Comment: 16 pages, REVTEX v3.1, 5 postscript figures include