The topological susceptibility of SU(3) gauge theory near T_c

We compute the topological susceptibility chi_t in SU(3) lattice gauge theory using fermionic methods based on the Atiyah-Singer index theorem. Near the phase transition we find a smooth crossover behavior for chi_t with values decreasing from (191(5) MeV)^4 to (100(5) MeV)^4 as we increase the temperature from 0.88 T_c to 1.31 T_c, showing that topological excitations exist far above T_c. Our study is the first large scale analysis of the topological susceptibility at high temperature based on the index theorem and the results agree well with field theoretical methods.Comment: Concluding statement reworded. To appear in Physics Letters

Complete spectra of the Dirac operator and their relation to confinement

We compute complete spectra of the staggered lattice Dirac operator for quenched SU(3) gauge configurations below and above the critical temperature. The confined and the deconfined phase are characterized by a different response of the Dirac eigenvalues to a change of the fermionic boundary conditions. We analyze the role of the eigenvalues in recently developed spectral sums representing the Polyakov loop. We show that the Polyakov loop gets its main contributions from the UV end of the spectrum.Comment: Typo fixed, to appear in Physics Letters

Remnant index theorem and low-lying eigenmodes for twisted mass fermions

We analyze the low-lying spectrum and eigenmodes of lattice Dirac operators with a twisted mass term. The twist term expels the eigenvalues from a strip in the complex plane and all eigenmodes obtain a non-vanishing matrix element with gamma-5. For a twisted Ginsparg-Wilson operator the spectrum is located on two arcs in the complex plane. Modes due to non-trivial topological charge of the underlying gauge field have their eigenvalues at the edges of these arcs and obey a remnant index theorem. For configurations in the confined phase we find that the twist mainly affects the zero modes, while the bulk of the spectrum is essentially unchanged.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures. Two comments added. To appear in Phys. Lett.

Improving the Dirac Operator in Lattice QCD

Recently various new concepts for the construction of Dirac operators in lattice Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD) have been introduced. These operators satisfy the so-called Ginsparg-Wilson condition (GWC), thus obeying the Atiyah-Singer index theorem and violating chiral symmetry only in a modest and local form. Here we present studies in 4-d for SU(3) gauge configurations with non-trivial topological content. We study the flow of eigenvalues and we compare the numerical stability and efficiency of a recently suggested chirally improved operator with that of others in this respect.Comment: Contrib. to Conf. on Comp. Physics, Sept. 2001 (Aachen); 4 pages, 4 figures, (LaTeX style files cpauth.cls, elsart.cls

New findings for topological excitations in SU(3) lattice gauge theory

We probe the SU(3) vacuum using eigenvectors of the Dirac operator with an arbitrary phase for the temporal boundary condition. We consider configurations with topological charge |Q| = 1 near the QCD phase transition and at low temperatures on a torus. For all our ensembles we show that the zero-mode of the Dirac operator changes its position as one changes the phase of the boundary condition. For ensembles near the QCD phase transition our results closely resemble the behavior of zero-modes for Kraan - van Baal solutions of the classical Yang-Mills equations where the individual lumps are interpreted as monopoles. Our findings near T_c and on the torus show that for both cases an excitation with topological charge |Q| = 1 is built from several separate lumps.Comment: Typo corrected. To appear in Nuclear Physics

Low-Lying Nucleons from Chirally Improved Fermions

We report on our preliminary results on the low-lying excited nucleon spectra which we obtain through a variational basis formed with three different interpolators.Comment: Contributed to Lattice 2003(spectrum), Tsukub

New approximate solutions of the Ginsparg-Wilson equation - tests in 2-d

A new method for finding approximate solutions of the Ginsparg-Wilson equation is tested in 2-d. The Dirac operator is first constructed and then used in a dynamical simulation of the 2-flavor Schwinger model. We find a very small mass of the pi-particle implying almost chirally symmetric fermions. The generalization of our method to 4-d is straightforward.Comment: Revised version (to appear in Physics Letters B); references added and regrouped; new comment on finite size effect

Searching for KvBLL calorons in SU(3) lattice gauge field ensembles

We discuss Kraan - van Baal - Lee - Lu (KvBLL) solutions of the classical Yang-Mills equations with temperature in the context of SU(3) lattice gauge theory. We present discretized lattice versions of KvBLL solutions and other dyonic structures, obtained by cooling in order to understand their variety and signature. An analysis of the zero modes of the lattice Dirac operator for different fermionic boundary conditions gives clear evidence for a KvBLL-like background of finite T lattice subensembles with Q = +/-1. Using APE-smearing we are able to study the topological charge density q(x) of the configurations and to corroborate this interpretation.Comment: Presented at LATTICE 2003 (topology) by C. Gattringer and E.M. Ilgenfritz, 6 page