Isospin susceptibility in the O(nn) sigma-model in the delta-regime

We compute the isospin susceptibility in an effective O($n$) scalar field theory (in $d=4$ dimensions), to third order in chiral perturbation theory ($\chi$PT) in the delta--regime using the quantum mechanical rotator picture. This is done in the presence of an additional coupling, involving a parameter $\eta$, describing the effect of a small explicit symmetry breaking term (quark mass). For the chiral limit $\eta=0$ we demonstrate consistency with our previous $\chi$PT computations of the finite-volume mass gap and isospin susceptibility. For the massive case by computing the leading mass effect in the susceptibility using $\chi$PT with dimensional regularization, we determine the $\chi$PT expansion for $\eta$ to third order. The behavior of the shape coefficients for long tube geometry obtained here might be of broader interest. The susceptibility calculated from the rotator approximation differs from the $\chi$PT result in terms vanishing like $1/\ell$ for $\ell=L_t/L_s\to\infty$. We show that this deviation can be described by a correction to the rotator spectrum proportional to the square of the quadratic Casimir invariant.Comment: 34 page

Locality and exponential error reduction in numerical lattice gauge theory

In non-abelian gauge theories without matter fields, expectation values of large Wilson loops and loop correlation functions are difficult to compute through numerical simulation, because the signal-to-noise ratio is very rapidly decaying for increasing loop sizes. Using a multilevel scheme that exploits the locality of the theory, we show that the statistical errors in such calculations can be exponentially reduced. We explicitly demonstrate this in the SU(3) theory, for the case of the Polyakov loop correlation function, where the efficiency of the simulation is improved by many orders of magnitude when the area bounded by the loops exceeds 1 fm^2.Comment: Plain TeX source, 18 pages, figures include

Bethe--Salpeter wave functions in integrable models

We investigate some properties of Bethe--Salpeter wave functions in integrable models. In particular we illustrate the application of the operator product expansion in determining the short distance behavior. The energy dependence of the potentials obtained from such wave functions is studied, and further we discuss the (limited) phenomenological significance of zero--energy potentials.Comment: LaTeX, 38 pages, 9 figure

O(a) improved twisted mass lattice QCD

Lattice QCD with Wilson quarks and a chirally twisted mass term (tmQCD) has been introduced in refs. [1,2]. We here apply Symanzik's improvement programme to this theory and list the counterterms which arise at first order in the lattice spacing a. Based on the generalised transfer matrix, we define the tmQCD Schrodinger functional and use it to derive renormalized on-shell correlation functions. By studying their continuum approach in perturbation theory we then determine the new O(a) counterterms of the action and of a few quark bilinear operators to one-loop order.Comment: 31 pages latex, no figure

Walking in the 3-dimensional large NN scalar model

The solvability of the three-dimensional O($N$) scalar field theory in the large $N$ limit makes it an ideal toy model exhibiting "walking" behavior, expected in some SU($N$) gauge theories with a large number of fermion flavors. We study the model using lattice regularization and show that when the ratio of the particle mass to an effective 4-point coupling (with dimension mass) is small, the beta function associated to the running 4-point coupling is "walking". We also study lattice artifacts and finite size effects, and find that while the former can be sizable at realistic correlation length, the latter are under control already at lattice sizes a few ($\sim$3) correlation lengths. We show the robustness of the walking phenomenon by showing that it can also be observed by studying physical observables such as the scattering phase shifts and the mass gap in finite volume.Comment: 27 pages, 5 figures, typos in the published version are correcte

Flow equation for the scalar model in the large NN expansion and its applications

We study the flow equation of the O($N$) $\varphi^4$ model in $d$ dimensions at the next-to-leading order (NLO) in the $1/N$ expansion. Using the Schwinger-Dyson equation, we derive 2-pt and 4-pt functions of flowed fields. As the first application of the NLO calculations, we study the running coupling defined from the connected 4-pt function of flowed fields in the $d+1$ dimensional theory. We show in particular that this running coupling has not only the UV fixed point but also an IR fixed point (Wilson-Fisher fixed point) in the 3 dimensional massless scalar theory. As the second application, we calculate the NLO correction to the induced metric in $d+1$ dimensions with $d=3$ in the massless limit. While the induced metric describes a 4-dimensional Euclidean Anti-de-Sitter (AdS) space at the leading order as shown in the previous paper, the NLO corrections make the space asymptotically AdS only in UV and IR limits. Remarkably, while the AdS radius does not receive a NLO correction in the UV limit, the AdS radius decreases at the NLO in the IR limit, which corresponds to the Wilson-Fisher fixed point in the original scalar model in 3 dimensions.Comment: 39 page

Chiral symmetry and O(a) improvement in lattice QCD

The dominant cutoff effects in lattice QCD with Wilson quarks are proportional to the lattice spacing a. In particular, the isovector axial current satisfies the PCAC relation only up to such effects. Following a suggestion of Symanzik, they can be cancelled by adding local O(a) correction terms to the action and the axial current. We here address a number of theoretical issues in connection with the O(a) improvement of lattice QCD and then show that chiral symmetry can be used to fix the coefficients multiplying the correction terms.Comment: 43 pages, uuencoded gzipped postscript fil