The finite temperature QCD phase transition with domain wall fermions

Results from the Columbia lattice group study of the QCD finite temperature phase transition with dynamical domain wall fermions on $16^3 \times 4$ lattices are presented. These results include an investigation of the U(1) axial symmetry breaking above but close to the transition, the use of zero temperature calculations that set the scale at the transition and preliminary measurements close to the transition.Comment: LATTICE99(hightemp), LaTeX, 3 pages, 3 eps figure

The triviality bound on the Higgs mass; its value and what it means

Older lattice work exploring the Higgs mass triviality bound is briefly reviewed. It indicates that a strongly interacting scalar sector in the minimal standard model cannot exist; on the other hand low energy QCD phenomenology might be interpreted as an indication that it could. We attack this puzzle using the $1/N$ expansion and discover a simple criterion for selecting a lattice action that is more likely to produce a heavy Higgs particle. Depending on the precise form of the limitation put on the cutoff effects, our large $N$ calculations, when combined with old numerical data, suggest that the Higgs mass bound might be around 750 $GeV$, which is higher than the $\sim 650~GeV$ previously obtained. Preliminary numerical work indicates that an increase of at least 19\% takes place at $N=4$ on the $F_4$ lattice when the old simple action is replaced with a new action (still containing only nearest neighbor interactions) if one uses the lattice spacing as the physical cutoff for both actions. It appears that, while a QCD like theory could produce $M_H / F ~ \sim 6$, a meaningful ``minimal elementary Higgs'' theory cannot have M_H/ F~ \gtapprox 3. Still, even at 750 $GeV$, the Higgs particle is so wide ($\sim 290~$GeV), that one cannot argue any more that the scalar sector is weakly coupled.Comment: 8 pages. Latex file with 4 ps figures included. Preprint RU-92-22, SCRI-92-11

Domain wall fermions and applications

Domain wall fermions provide a complimentary alternative to traditional lattice fermion approaches. By introducing an extra dimension, the amount of chiral symmetry present in the lattice theory can be controlled in a linear way. This results in improved chiral properties as well as robust topological zero modes. A brief introduction on the subject and a discussion of chiral properties and applications, such as zero and finite temperature QCD, N = 1 super Yang-Mills, and four-fermion theories, is presented.Comment: Contribution to Lattice 2000 (Plenary), LaTeX, 12 pages, 15 eps figure

The staggered domain wall fermion method

A different lattice fermion method is introduced. Staggered domain wall fermions are defined in 2n+1 dimensions and describe 2^n flavors of light lattice fermions with exact U(1) x U(1) chiral symmetry in 2n dimensions. As the size of the extra dimension becomes large, 2^n chiral flavors with the same chiral charge are expected to be localized on each boundary and the full SU(2^n) x SU(2^n) flavor chiral symmetry is expected to be recovered. SDWF give a different perspective into the inherent flavor mixing of lattice fermions and by design present an advantage for numerical simulations of lattice QCD thermodynamics. The chiral and topological index properties of the SDWF Dirac operator are investigated. And, there is a surprise ending...Comment: revtex4, 7 figures, minor revisions, 2 references adde

The Nambu--Jona-Lasinio Model of QCD on the Lattice

In an effort to investigate some of the low energy properties of QCD, in particular those related to chiral symmetry breaking, as well as to obtain insights on the behavior of an interacting theory of fermions on the lattice, the two flavor Nambu--Jona-Lasinio model with $SU(2) \times SU(2)$ chiral symmetry is studied on the four--dimensional hypercubic lattice using large $N$ techniques and numerical simulations. Naive and Wilson fermions are considered and transparent results are obtained regarding the following: the scalar and pseudoscalar spectrum, the approach to the continuum and chiral limits, the size of the $1/N$ corrections, and the effects of the zero momentum fermionic modes on finite lattices. Also, some interesting observations are made by viewing the model as an embedding theory of the Higgs sector. Note: The full ps file of this preprint is also available via anonymous ftp to ftp.scri.fsu.edu. To get the ps file, ftp to this address and use for username "anonymous" and for password your name. The file is in the directory pub/vranas (to go to that directory type: cd pub/vranas) and is called NJL.ps (to get it type: get NJL.ps)Comment: 10 pages, LaTex file. FSU-SCRI-93-12

Regularization dependence of the Higgs mass triviality bound

We calculate the triviality bound on the Higgs mass in scalar field theory models whose global symmetry group $SU(2)_L \times SU(2)_{\rm custodial} \approx O(4)$ has been replaced by $O(N)$ and $N$ has been taken to infinity. Limits on observable cutoff effects at four percent in several regularized models with tunable couplings in the bare action yield triviality bounds displaying a large degree of universality. Extrapolating from $N=\infty$ to $N=4$ we conservatively estimate that a Higgs particle with mass up to $0.750~TeV$ and width up to $0.290~TeV$ is realizable without large cutoff effects, indicating that strong scalar self interactions in the standard model are not ruled out. We also present preliminary numerical results of the physical $N=4$ case for the $F_4$ lattice that are in agreement with the large $N$ expectations. Note: The full ps file is also available via anonymous ftp to ftp.scri.fsu.edu. To get the ps file, ftp to this address and use for username "anonymous" and for password your name. The file is in the directory pub/vranas (to go to that directory type: cd pub/vranas) and is called lat92_proc.ps (to get it type: get lat92_proc.ps)Comment: 5 pages with 5 ps figures included. LaTex file. Contribution to the LAT92 proceedings. Preprint, FSU-SCRI-92-150, RU-92-4

Solomonoff Induction Violates Nicod's Criterion

Nicod's criterion states that observing a black raven is evidence for the hypothesis H that all ravens are black. We show that Solomonoff induction does not satisfy Nicod's criterion: there are time steps in which observing black ravens decreases the belief in H. Moreover, while observing any computable infinite string compatible with H, the belief in H decreases infinitely often when using the unnormalized Solomonoff prior, but only finitely often when using the normalized Solomonoff prior. We argue that the fault is not with Solomonoff induction; instead we should reject Nicod's criterion.Comment: ALT 201