Improved actions and asymptotic scaling in lattice Yang-Mills theory

Improved actions in SU(2) and SU(3) lattice gauge theories are investigated with an emphasis on asymptotic scaling. A new scheme for tadpole improvement is proposed. The standard but heuristic tadpole improvement emerges from a mean field approximation from the new approach. Scaling is investigated by means of the large distance static quark potential. Both, the generic and the new tadpole scheme yield significant improvements on asymptotic scaling when compared with loop improved actions. A study of the rotational symmetry breaking terms, however, reveals that only the new improvement scheme efficiently eliminates the leading irrelevant term from the action.Comment: minor modifications, improved presentatio

Supersymmetric Yang-Mills quantum mechanics in various dimensions

Recent analytical and numerical solutions of the above systems are reviewed. Discussed results include: a) exact construction of the supersymmetric vacua in two space-time dimensions, and b) precise numerical calculations of the coexisting continuous and discrete spectra in the four-dimensional system, together with the identification of dynamical supermultiplets and SUSY vacua. New construction of the gluinoless SO(9) singlet state, which is vastly different from the empty state, in the ten-dimensional model is also briefly summarized.Comment: Talk presented at the Eighth Workshop on Non-Perturbative QCD, Paris, June 2004; 8 pages, 4 figure

Calorons on the lattice - a new perspective

We discuss the manifestation of instanton and monopole solutions on a periodic lattice at finite temperature and their relation to the infinite volume analytic caloron solutions with asymptotic non-trivial Polyakov loops. As a tool we use improved cooling and twisted boundary conditions. Typically we find 2Q lumps for topological charge Q. These lumps are BPS monopoles.Comment: Latex. 16 pages, 9 figure

Small volume expansion of almost supersymmetric large N theories

We consider the small-volume dynamics of nonsupersymmetric orbifold and orientifold field theories defined on a three-torus, in a test of the claimed planar equivalence between these models and appropriate supersymmetric ``parent models". We study one-loop effective potentials over the moduli space of flat connections and find that planar equivalence is preserved for suitable averages over the moduli space. On the other hand, strong nonlinear effects produce local violations of planar equivalence at special points of moduli space. In the case of orbifold models, these effects show that the "twisted" sector dominates the low-energy dynamics.Comment: 20 pages, 3 figures; added references, minor change

Recent results on self-dual configurations on the torus

We review the recent progress on our understanding of self-dual SU(N) Yang-Mills configurations on the torus.Comment: Latex 3 pages, 1 figure. Contribution to the Lat99 Proceeding

Towards the lattice study of M-theory (II)

We present new results of the quenched simulations of the reduced D=4 supersymmetric Yang - Mills quantum mechanics for larger gauge groups SU(N), 2<N<9. The model, studied at finite temperature, reveals existence of the two distinct regions which may be precursors of a black hole and the elementary D0 branes phases of M-theory conjectured in the literature. Present results for higher groups confirm the picture found already for N=2. Similar behaviour is observed in the preliminary simulations for the D=6 and D=10 models.Comment: Talk presented at XIX International Symposium on Lattice Field Theory lattice2001(surfaces

On the stability of Dirac sheet configurations

Using cooling for SU(2) lattice configurations, purely Abelian constant magnetic field configurations were left over after the annihilation of constituents that formed metastable Q=0 configurations. These so-called Dirac sheet configurations were found to be stable if emerging from the confined phase, close to the deconfinement phase transition, provided their Polyakov loop was sufficiently non-trivial. Here we show how this is related to the notion of marginal stability of the appropriate constant magnetic field configurations. We find a perfect agreement between the analytic prediction for the dependence of stability on the value of the Polyakov loop (the holonomy) in a finite volume and the numerical results studied on a finite lattice in the context of the Dirac sheet configurations

Should cost effectiveness analyses for NICE always consider future unrelated medical costs?

When developing guidance on the use of new technologies within the NHS, NICE recommends the use of cost effectiveness. Specifically, an intervention is deemed cost effective by NICE if ‘its health benefits are greater than the opportunity costs of programmes displaced to fund the new technology, in the context of a fixed NHS budget. In other words, the general consequences for the wider group of patients in the NHS are considered alongside the effects for those patients who may directly benefit from the technology.’ We argue that the technical guidelines for health technology assessment used by NICE should change given this definition of cost effectiveness. The point at issue is the handling of “unrelated future medical costs”

Testing the fermionic terms in the non-abelian D-brane effective action through order α′3\alpha'{}^3

Recently the construction of the non-abelian effective D-brane action was performed through order $\alpha'{}^3$ including the terms quadratic in the gauginos. This result can be tested by calculating the spectrum in the presence of constant magnetic background fields and comparing it to the string theoretic predictions. This test was already performed for the purely bosonic terms. In this note we extend the test to the fermionic terms. We obtain perfect agreement.Comment: 10 pages, LaTe