Cutoff-effects in the spectrum of dynamical Wilson fermions

We investigate the low-lying eigenvalues of the improved Wilson-Dirac operator in the Schroedinger functional with two dynamical quark flavors. At a lattice spacing of approximately 0.1 fm we find more very small eigenvalues than in the quenched case. These cause problems with HMC-type algorithms and in the evaluation of fermionic correlation functions. Through a simulation at a finer lattice spacing we are able to establish their nature as cutoff-effectsComment: Lattice2004(machines), 3 pages, 3 figures, talk by R.

Non-perturbative renormalization of the axial current with dynamical Wilson fermions

We present a new normalization condition for the axial current, derived from the PCAC relation with non-vanishing quark mass. This condition is expected to reduce mass effects in the chiral extrapolation of the results for the normalization factor Z_A. The application to the two-flavor theory with improved Wilson fermions shows that this expectation is indeed fulfilled. Using the Schroedinger functional setup we calculate Z_A(g_0^2) as well as the vector current normalization factor Z_V(g_0^2) for beta = 6/g_0^2 >= 5.2.Comment: 15 pages, 4 figures, 2 tables, JHEP styl

Locality with staggered fermions

We address the locality problem arising in simulations, which take the square root of the staggered fermion determinant as a Boltzmann weight to reduce the number of dynamical quark tastes. A definition of such a theory necessitates an underlying local fermion operator with the same determinant and the corresponding Green's functions to establish causality and unitarity. We illustrate this point by studying analytically and numerically the square root of the staggered fermion operator. Although it has the correct weight, this operator is non-local in the continuum limit. Our work serves as a warning that fundamental properties of field theories might be violated when employing blindly the square root trick. The question, whether a local operator reproducing the square root of the staggered fermion determinant exists, is left open.Comment: 24 pages, 7 figures, few remarks added for clarity, accepted for publication in Nucl. Phys.

Cutoff effects in twisted mass lattice QCD

We present a first numerical study of lattice QCD with O(a) improved Wilson quarks and a chirally twisted mass term. Renormalized correlation functions are derived from the Schroedinger functional and evaluated in an intermediate space-time volume of size 0.75^3 x 1.5 fm^4. In the quenched approximation precise results are then obtained with a moderate computational effort, allowing for a detailed study of the continuum approach. The latter is discussed in terms of observables which converge to meson masses and decay constants in the limit of large space-time volume. In the O(a) improved theory we find residual cutoff effects to be at the level of a few percent for lattice spacings of about 0.1 fm.Comment: 20 pages, 5 figures. Comments about the uncertainties on improvement coefficients adde

Lattice calculation of SU(3) flavor breaking ratios in B - anti-B mixing

We present an unquenched lattice calculation for the SU(3) flavor breaking ratios of the heavy-light decay constants and the $\Delta B = 2$ matrix elements. The calculation was performed on $16^3 \times 32$ lattices with two dynamical flavors of domain-wall quarks and inverse lattice spacing $1/a = 1.69(5)$ GeV. Heavy quarks were implemented using an improved lattice formulation of the static approximation. In the infinite heavy-quark mass limit we obtain $f_{B_s}/f_{B_d} = 1.29(4)(6)$, $B_{B_s}/B_{B_d} = 1.06(6)(4)$, $\xi = 1.33(8)(8)$ where the first error is statistical and the second systematic.Comment: 23 pages, 8 figures, RevTeX4; mentioned existence of 1/m_b corrections, minor changes improving readabilit

Non-perturbative scaling tests of twisted mass QCD

We present a scaling study of lattice QCD with O(a) improved Wilson fermions and a chirally twisted mass term. In order to get precise results with a moderate computational effort, we have considered a system of physical size of 0.75^3 * 1.5 fm^4 with Schroedinger functional boundary conditions in the quenched approximation. Looking at meson observables in the pseudoscalar and vector channels, we find that O(a) improvement is effective and residual cutoff effects are fairly small.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, Lattice 2000 (Improvement and Renormalization), two misprints correcte

QCD with light Wilson quarks on fine lattices (I): first experiences and physics results

Recent conceptual, algorithmic and technical advances allow numerical simulations of lattice QCD with Wilson quarks to be performed at significantly smaller quark masses than was possible before. Here we report on simulations of two-flavour QCD at sea-quark masses from slightly above to approximately 1/4 of the strange-quark mass, on lattices with up to 64x32^3 points and spacings from 0.05 to 0.08 fm. Physical sea-quark effects are clearly seen on these lattices, while the lattice effects appear to be quite small, even without O(a) improvement. A striking result is that the dependence of the pion mass on the sea-quark mass is accurately described by leading-order chiral perturbation theory up to meson masses of about 500 MeV.Comment: TeX source, 17 pages, figures include

Quenched twisted mass QCD at small quark masses and in large volume

As a test of quenched lattice twisted mass QCD, we compute the non-perturbatively O($a$) improved pseudoscalar and vector meson masses and the pseudoscalar decay constant down to $M_{\rm PS}/M_{\rm V} = 0.467(13)$ at $\beta=6$ in large volume. We check the absence of exceptional configurations and -- by further data at $\beta=6.2$ -- the size of scaling violations. The CPU time cost for reaching a given accuracy is close to that with ordinary Wilson quarks at $M_{\rm PS}/M_{\rm V} \simeq 0.6$ and grows smoothly as $M_{\rm PS}/M_{\rm V}$ decreases.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, to appear in Nucl. Phys. B (Proc. Suppl.