Constraints on the Universe as a Numerical Simulation

Observable consequences of the hypothesis that the observed universe is a numerical simulation performed on a cubic space-time lattice or grid are explored. The simulation scenario is first motivated by extrapolating current trends in computational resource requirements for lattice QCD into the future. Using the historical development of lattice gauge theory technology as a guide, we assume that our universe is an early numerical simulation with unimproved Wilson fermion discretization and investigate potentially-observable consequences. Among the observables that are considered are the muon g-2 and the current differences between determinations of alpha, but the most stringent bound on the inverse lattice spacing of the universe, b−1 \u3e ~ 10^11 GeV, is derived from the high-energy cut off of the cosmic ray spectrum. The numerical simulation scenario could reveal itself in the distributions of the highest energy cosmic rays exhibiting a degree of rotational symmetry breaking that reflects the structure of the underlying lattice

Meson Masses in High Density QCD

The low-energy effective theories for the two- and three-flavor color-superconductors arising in the high density limit of QCD are discussed. Using an effective field theory to describe quarks near the fermi surface, we compute the masses of the pseudo-Goldstone bosons that dominate the low-momentum dynamics of these systems.Comment: 13 pages, 3 figures, late

From Hadrons to Nuclei: Crossing the Border

The study of nuclei predates by many years the theory of quantum chromodynamics. More recently, effective field theories have been used in nuclear physics to ``cross the border'' from QCD to a nuclear theory. We are now entering the second decade of efforts to develop a perturbative theory of nuclear interactions using effective field theory. This work describes the current status of these efforts.Comment: 141 pages, 58 figs, latex. To appear in the Boris Ioffe Festschrift, ed. by M. Shifman, World Scientifi

I=2 pi-pi Scattering from Fully-Dynamical Mixed-Action Lattice QCD

We compute the I=2 pi-pi scattering length at pion masses of m_pi ~ 294, 348 and 484 MeV in fully-dynamical lattice QCD using Luscher's finite-volume method. The calculation is performed with domain-wall valence-quark propagators on asqtad-improved MILC configurations with staggered sea quarks at a single lattice spacing, b ~ 0.125 fm. Chiral perturbation theory is used to perform the extrapolation of the scattering length from lattice quark masses down to the physical value, and we find m_pi a_2 = -0.0426 +- 0.0006 +- 0.0003 +- 0.0018, in good agreement with experiment. The I=2 pi-pi scattering phase shift is calculated to be delta = -43 +- 10 +- 5 degrees at |p| ~ 544 MeV for m_pi ~ 484 MeV.Comment: 16 pages, 4 figure

Multi-Pion Systems in Lattice QCD and the Three-Pion Interaction

The ground-state energies of 2, 3, 4 and 5 \pi^+'s in a spatial volume V (2.5 fm)^3 are computed with lattice QCD. By eliminating the leading contribution from three-\pi^+ interactions, particular combinations of these n-\pi^+ ground-state energies provide precise extractions of the \pi^+\pi^+ scattering length in agreement with that obtained from calculations involving only two \pi^+'s. The three-\pi^+ interaction can be isolated by forming other combinations of the n-\pi^+ ground-state energies. We find a result that is consistent with a repulsive three-\pi^+ interaction for m_\pi < 352 MeV.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure

Unitary Limit of Two-Nucleon Interactions in Strong Magnetic Fields

Two-nucleon systems are shown to exhibit large scattering lengths in strong magnetic fields at unphysical quark masses, and the trends toward the physical values indicate that such features may exist in nature. Lattice QCD calculations of the energies of one and two nucleons systems are performed at pion masses of $m_\pi\sim 450$ and 806 MeV in uniform, time-independent magnetic fields of strength {\bf B}| \sim 10^{19}$-$10^{20}$ Gauss to determine the response of these hadronic systems to large magnetic fields. Fields of this strength may exist inside magnetars and in peripheral relativistic heavy ion collisions, and the unitary behavior at large scattering lengths may have important consequences for these systems.Comment: Accepted journal versio

Ab initio calculation of the np→dγnp \to d \gamma radiative capture process

Lattice QCD calculations of two-nucleon systems are used to isolate the short-distance two-body electromagnetic contributions to the radiative capture process $np \to d\gamma$, and the photo-disintegration processes $\gamma^{(\ast)} d \to np$. In nuclear potential models, such contributions are described by phenomenological meson-exchange currents, while in the present work, they are determined directly from the quark and gluon interactions of QCD. Calculations of neutron-proton energy levels in multiple background magnetic fields are performed at two values of the quark masses, corresponding to pion masses of $m_\pi \sim 450$ and 806 MeV, and are combined with pionless nuclear effective field theory to determine these low-energy inelastic processes. Extrapolating to the physical pion mass, a cross section of $\sigma^{lqcd}(np\to d\gamma)=332.4({\tiny \begin{array}{l}+5.4 \\ - 4.7\end{array}})\ mb$ is obtained at an incident neutron speed of $v=2,200\ m/s$, consistent with the experimental value of$\sigma^{expt}(np \to d\gamma) = 334.2(0.5)\ mb$