New Method for Dynamical Fermions and Chiral-Symmetry Breaking

The reasons for the feasibility of the Microcanonical Fermionic Average ($MFA$) approach to lattice gauge theory with dynamical fermions are discussed. We then present a new exact algorithm, which is free from systematic errors and convergent even in the chiral limit.Comment: 3 pages, DFTUZ 93/20, to appear in the Proceedings of Lattice 93, Dalla

The Schwinger Model on the lattice in the Microcanonical Fermionic Average approach

The Microcanonical Fermionic Average method has been used so far in the context of lattice models with phase transitions at finite coupling. To test its applicability to Asymptotically Free theories, we have implemented it in QED$_2$, \it i.e.\rm the Schwinger Model. We exploit the possibility, intrinsic to this method, of studying the whole $\beta, m$ plane at negligible computer cost, to follow constant physics trajectories and measure the $m \to 0$ limit of the chiral condensate. We recover the continuum result within 3 decimal places.Comment: TeX file, 7 pages + 3 figures in Postscrip

Testing logarithmic violations to scaling in strongly coupled QED

Using very precise measurements of the critical couplings for the chiral transition of non compact $QED_4$ with up to 8 flavours, we analyse the behaviour of the order parameter at the critical point using the equation of state of a logarithmically improved scalar mean field theory, that of the Nambu-Jona Lasinio theory and a pure power law. The first case is definitively excluded by the numerical data. The stability of the fits for the last two cases, as well as the behaviour with the number of flavours of the exponent of the logarithmic violations to the scaling favour clearly a pure power law scaling with non mean field exponents.Comment: 6 pages, 3 postscript figures, 2 postscript tables (tar-ed, zip-ed, uu-encoded

Critical Behavior of the Schwinger Model with Wilson Fermions

We present a detailed analysis, in the framework of the MFA approach, of the critical behaviour of the lattice Schwinger model with Wilson fermions on lattices up to $24^2$, through the study of the Lee-Yang zeros and the specific heat. We find compelling evidence for a critical line ending at $\kappa = 0.25$ at large $\beta$. Finite size scaling analysis on lattices $8^2,12^2,16^2, 20^2$ and $24^2$ indicates a continuous transition. The hyperscaling relation is verified in the explored $\beta$ region.Comment: 12 pages LaTeX file, 10 figures in one uuencoded compressed postscript file. Report LNF-95/049(P

Chiral condensate of lattice QCD with massless quarks from the probability distribution function method

We apply the probability distribution function method to the study of chiral properties of QCD with quarks in the exact massless limit. A relation among the chiral condensate, zeros of the Bessel function and eigenvalue of Dirac operator is also given. The chiral condensate in this limit can be measured with small number of eigenvalues of the massless Dirac operator and without any ambiguous mass extrapolation. Results for SU(3) gauge theory with quenched Kogut-Susskind quarks on the $10^4$ lattice are shown

Investigation of a Toy Model for Frustration in Abelian Lattice Gauge Theory

We introduce a lattice model with local U(1) gauge symmetry which incorporates explicit frustration in d >2. The form of the action is inspired from the loop expansion of the fermionic determinant in standard lattice QED. We study through numerical simulations the phase diagram of the model, revealing the existence of a frustrated (antiferromagnetic) phase for d=3 and d=4, once an appropriate order parameter is identified.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figure

No-go theorem on spontaneous parity breaking revisited

An essential assumption in the Vafa and Witten's theorem on P and CT realization in vector-like theories concerns the existence of a free energy density in Euclidean space in the presence of any external hermitian symmetry breaking source. We show how this requires the previous assumption that the symmetry is realized in the vacuum. Even if Vafa and Witten's conjecture is plausible, actually a theorem is still lacking.Comment: Talk presented at LATTICE99(Theoretical Developments),3 pages. Latex using espcrc2.st

Chiral Susceptibilities in noncompact QED: a new determination of the γ\gamma exponent and the critical couplings

We report the results of a measurement of susceptibilities in noncompact $QED_4$ in $8^4, 10^4$ and $12^4$ lattices. Due to the potentialities of the $MFA$ approach, we have done simulations in the chiral limit which are therefore free from arbitrary mass extrapolations. Our results in the Coulomb phase show unambiguously that the susceptibility critical exponent $\gamma=1$ independently of the flavour symmetry group. The critical couplings extracted from these calculations are in perfect agreement with previous determinations based on the fermion effective action and plaquette energy, and outside the predictions of a logarithmically improved scalar mean field theory by eight standard deviations.Comment: 11 pages, figures on reques

Theta-vacuum: Phase Transitions and/or Symmetry Breaking at θ=π\theta = \pi

Assuming that a quantum field theory with a $\theta$-vacuum term in the action shows non-trivial $\theta$-dependence and provided that some reasonable properties of the probability distribution function of the order parameter hold, we argue that the theory either breaks spontaneously CP at $\theta = \pi$ or shows a singular behavior at some critical $\theta_c$ between 0 and $\pi$. This result, which applies to any model with a pure imaginary contribution to the euclidean action consisting in a quantized charge coupled to a phase, as QCD, is illustrated with two simple examples; one of them intimately related to Witten's result on SU(N) in the large $N$ limit.Comment: 9 pages, 2 figures, 2 references added, final version to appear in Progr. Theor. Phy