617 research outputs found
Scaling of Pseudo-Critical Couplings in Two-Flavour QCD
We study the scaling behaviour of the pseudo-critical couplings for the
chiral phase transition in two-flavour QCD. We show that all existing results
from lattice simulations on lattices with temporal extent , 6 and 8
can be mapped onto a universal scaling curve. The relevant combination of
critical exponents, , is consistent with the scaling behaviour
expected for a second order phase transition with exponents. At present,
scaling according to the symmetry group can, however, not be ruled out.Comment: 8 pages, NSF-ITP 93-12
The Kaon B-parameter from Quenched Domain-Wall QCD
We present numerical results for the kaon B-parameter, B_K, determined in the
quenched approximation of lattice QCD. Our simulations are performed using
domain-wall fermions and the renormalization group improved, DBW2 gauge action
which combine to give quarks with good chiral symmetry at finite lattice
spacing. Operators are renormalized non-perturbatively using the RI/MOM scheme.
We study scaling by performing the simulation on two different lattices with
a^{-1} = 1.982(30) and 2.914(54) GeV. We combine this quenched scaling study
with an earlier calculation of B_K using two flavors of dynamical, domain-wall
quarks at a single lattice spacing to obtain
B_K(MS,NDR,mu=2GeV)=0.563(21)(39)(30), were the first error is statistical, the
second systematic (without quenching errors) and the third estimates the error
due to quenching.Comment: 77 pages, 44 figures, to be published in Phys. Rev.
The IS Undergraduate Curriculum: Predicting Student Outcomes In An Upper Division Programming Course
Academic performance of students is a primary factor in student attrition. Being able to reliably predict academic success would facilitate improved advising for academic program and course selection. This study examines several predictor variables and assesses their value in predicting course performance in an upper division computer programming course in an undergraduate business-based Information Systems (IS) degree program
Enhanced chiral logarithms in partially quenched QCD
I discuss the properties of pions in ``partially quenched'' theories, i.e.
those in which the valence and sea quark masses, and , are
different. I point out that for lattice fermions which retain some chiral
symmetry on the lattice, e.g. staggered fermions, the leading order prediction
of the chiral expansion is that the mass of the pion depends only on , and
is independent of . This surprising result is shown to receive corrections
from loop effects which are of relative size , and which thus
diverge when the valence quark mass vanishes. Using partially quenched chiral
perturbation theory, I calculate the full one-loop correction to the mass and
decay constant of pions composed of two non-degenerate quarks, and suggest
various combinations for which the prediction is independent of the unknown
coefficients of the analytic terms in the chiral Lagrangian. These results can
also be tested with Wilson fermions if one uses a non-perturbative definition
of the quark mass.Comment: 14 pages, 3 figures, uses psfig. Typos in eqs (18)-(20) corrected
(alpha_4 is replaced by alpha_4/2
Caribou reactions to provocation by snowmachines in Newfoundland
Caribou in Gros Morne National Park reacted to provocation by snowmachine with significant differences in their response between years. Upon exposure to snowmachines, caribou were displaced 60 to 237 m from their initial locations. Groups with calves allowed the snowmachines to approach more closely before responding (5 to 600 m) than adult-only groups (30 to 1300 m), and their overall flight distances were less. Time spent in locomotion and overall reaction time were greater for animals engaged in the most sedentary activities (eg. standing; mean = 239 s and mean = 262 s, and lying; mean = 166 s and mean = 273 s) than for animals already engaged in more dynamic activities such as walking (mean = 118 s and mean = 133 s), running (mean = 74 s and mean = 63 s) and feeding (mean = 118 s and mean = 133 s). Annual differences in the response of adult-only groups were not due to differences in the sex ratio of these groups, but may be related to annual variation in winter weather conditions
Domain Wall Fermions in Quenched Lattice QCD
We study the chiral properties and the validity of perturbation theory for
domain wall fermions in quenched lattice QCD at beta=6.0. The explicit chiral
symmetry breaking term in the axial Ward-Takahashi identity is found to be very
small already at Ns=10, where Ns is the size of the fifth dimension, and its
behavior seems consistent with an exponential decay in Ns within the limited
range of Ns we explore. From the fact that the critical quark mass, at which
the pion mass vanishes as in the case of the ordinary Wilson-type fermion,
exists at finite Ns, we point out that this may be a signal of the parity
broken phase and investigate the possible existence of such a phase in this
model at finite Ns. The rho and pi meson decay constants obtained from the
four-dimensional local currents with the one-loop renormalization factor show a
good agreement with those obtained from the conserved currents
Equation of State for physical quark masses
We calculate the QCD equation of state for temperatures corresponding to the
transition region with physical mass values for two degenerate light quark
flavors and a strange quark using an improved staggered fermion action
(p4-action) on lattices with temporal extent N_tau=8. We compare our results
with previous calculations performed at twice larger values of the light quark
masses as well as with results obtained from a resonance gas model calculation.
We also discuss the deconfining and chiral aspects of the QCD transition in
terms of renormalized Polyakov loop, strangeness fluctuations and subtracted
chiral condensate. We show that compared to the calculations performed at twice
larger value of the light quark mass the transition region shifts by about 5
MeV toward smaller temperaturesComment: 7 pages, LaTeX, 6 figures; minor corrections, typos corrected,
references adde
Flavor-Changing Processes in Extended Technicolor
We analyze constraints on a class of extended technicolor (ETC) models from
neutral flavor-changing processes induced by (dimension-six) four-fermion
operators. The ETC gauge group is taken to commute with the standard-model
gauge group. The models in the class are distinguished by how the left- and
right-handed components of the quarks and charged leptons transform
under the ETC group. We consider and other pseudoscalar
meson mixings, and conclude that they are adequately suppressed if the and
components of the relevant quarks are assigned to the same (fundamental or
conjugate-fundamental) representation of the ETC group. Models in which the
and components of the down-type quarks are assigned to relatively conjugate
representations, while they can lead to realistic CKM mixing and intra-family
mass splittings, do not adequately suppress these mixing processes. We identify
an approximate global symmetry that elucidates these behavioral differences and
can be used to analyze other possible representation assignments.
Flavor-changing decays, involving quarks and/or leptons, are adequately
suppressed for any ETC-representation assignment of the and components
of the quarks, as well as the leptons. We draw lessons for future ETC model
building.Comment: 25 page
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