Chiral Behaviour of the Rho Meson in Lattice QCD

In order to guide the extrapolation of the mass of the rho meson calculated in lattice QCD with dynamical fermions, we study the contributions to its self-energy which vary most rapidly as the quark mass approaches zero; from the processes $\rho \to \omega \pi$ and $\rho \to \pi \pi$. It turns out that in analysing the most recent data from CP-PACS it is crucial to estimate the self-energy from $\rho \to \pi \pi$ using the same grid of discrete momenta as included implicitly in the lattice simulation. The correction associated with the continuum, infinite volume limit can then be found by calculating the corresponding integrals exactly. Our error analysis suggests that a factor of 10 improvement in statistics at the lowest quark mass for which data currently exists would allow one to determine the physical rho mass to within 5%. Finally, our analysis throws new light on a long-standing problem with the J-parameter.Comment: 13 pages, 7 figures. Full analytic forms of the self-energies are included and a correction in the omega-pi self-energ

Chiral extrapolation of nucleon magnetic form factors

The extrapolation of nucleon magnetic form factors calculated within lattice QCD is investigated within a framework based upon heavy baryon chiral effective-field theory. All one-loop graphs are considered at arbitrary momentum transfer and all octet and decuplet baryons are included in the intermediate states. Finite range regularisation is applied to improve the convergence in the quark-mass expansion. At each value of the momentum transfer ($Q^2$), a separate extrapolation to the physical pion mass is carried out as a function of $m_\pi$ alone. Because of the large values of $Q^2$ involved, the role of the pion form factor in the standard pion-loop integrals is also investigated. The resulting values of the form factors at the physical pion mass are compared with experimental data as a function of $Q^2$ and demonstrate the utility and accuracy of the chiral extrapolation methods presented herein.Comment: 19 pages, 10 figure

Pure sea-quark contributions to the magnetic form factors of Σ\Sigma baryons

We propose the pure sea-quark contributions to the magnetic form factors of $\Sigma$ baryons, $G_{\Sigma^-}^u$ and $G_{\Sigma^+}^d$, as priority observables for the examination of sea-quark contributions to baryon structure, both in present lattice QCD simulations and possible future experimental measurement. $G_{\Sigma^-}^u$, the $u$-quark contribution to the magnetic form factor of $\Sigma^-$, and $G_{\Sigma^+}^d$, the $d$-quark contribution to the magnetic form factor of $\Sigma^+$, are similar to the strange quark contribution to the magnetic form factor of the nucleon, but promise to be larger by an order of magnitude. We explore the size of this quantity within chiral effective field theory, including both octet and decuplet intermediate states. The finite range regularization approach is applied to deal with ultraviolet divergences. Drawing on an established connection between quenched and full QCD, this approach makes it possible to predict the sea quark contribution to the magnetic form factor purely from the meson loop. In the familiar convention where the quark charge is set to unity $G_{\Sigma^-}^u = G_{\Sigma^+}^d$. We find a value of $-0.38^{+0.16}_{-0.17}\ \mu_N$, which is about seven times larger than the strange magnetic moment of the nucleon found in the same approach. Including quark charge factors, the $u$-quark contribution to the $\Sigma^-$ magnetic moment exceeds the strange quark contribution to the nucleon magnetic moment by a factor of 14.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1312.337

Chiral Extrapolations and Exotic Meson Spectrum

We examine the chiral corrections to exotic meson masses calculated in lattice QCD. In particular, we ask whether the non-linear chiral behavior at small quark masses, which has been found in other hadronic systems, could lead to large corrections to the predictions of exotic meson masses based on linear extrapolations to the chiral limit. We find that our present understanding of exotic meson decay dynamics suggests that open channels may not make a significant contribution to such non-linearities whereas the virtual, closed channels may be important.Comment: 13 pagers, 2 figure

Testing QCD Sum Rule Techniques on the Lattice

Results for the first test of the ``crude'' QCD continuum model, commonly used in QCD Sum Rule analyses, are presented for baryon correlation functions. The QCD continuum model is found to effectively account for excited state contributions to the short-time regime of two-point correlation functions and allows the isolation of ground state properties. Confusion in the literature surrounding the physics represented in point-to-point correlation functions is also addressed. These results justify the use of the ``crude'' QCD continuum model and lend credence to the results of rigorous QCD Sum Rule analyses.Comment: Discussion of systematic uncertainties augmente

Modelling the quark propagator

The quark propagator is at the core of lattice hadron spectrum calculations as well as studies in other nonperturbative schemes. We investigate the quark propagator with an improved staggered action (Asqtad) and an improved gluon action, which provides good quality data down to small quark masses. This is used to construct ans\"{a}tze suitable for model hadron calculations as well as adding to our intuitive understanding of QCD.Comment: Lattice2002(spectrum

Towards a Connection Between Nuclear Structure and QCD

As we search for an ever deeper understanding of the structure of hadronic matter one of the most fundamental questions is whether or not one can make a connection to the underlying theory of the strong interaction, QCD. We build on recent advances in the chiral extrapolation problem linking lattice QCD at relatively large ``light quark'' masses to the physical world to estimate the scalar polarizability of the nucleon. The latter plays a key role in modern relativistic mean-field descriptions of nuclei and nuclear matter (such as QMC) and, in particular, leads to a very natural saturation mechanism. We demonstrate that the value of the scalar polarizability extracted from the lattice data is consistent with that needed for a successful description of nuclei within the framework of QMC. In a very real sense this is the first hint of a direct connection between QCD and the properties of finite nuclei.Comment: Lecture presented at: 18th Nishinomiya-Yukawa Memorial Symposium On Strangeness In Nuclear Matter : 4-5 Dec 2003, Nishinomiya, Japa