Search

We present complete results for the hadronic vacuum polarization (HVP) contribution to the muon anomalous magnetic moment $a_\mu$ in the short- and intermediate-distance window regions, which account for roughly 10% and 35% of the total HVP contribution to $a_\mu$, respectively. In particular, we perform lattice-QCD calculations for the isospin-symmetric connected and disconnected contributions, as well as corrections due to strong isospin-breaking. For the short-distance window observables, we investigate the so-called log-enhancement effects as well as the significant oscillations associated with staggered quarks in this region. For the dominant, isospin-symmetric light-quark connected contribution, we obtain $a^{ll,\,{\mathrm{SD}}}_{\mu}(\mathrm{conn.}) = 48.116(16)(94)[96] \times 10^{-10}$ and $a^{ll,\,{\mathrm{W}}}_{\mu}(\mathrm{conn.}) = 207.06(17)(63)[66] \times 10^{-10}$. We use Bayesian model averaging combined with a global bootstrap to fully estimate the covariance matrix between the individual contributions. Our determinations of the complete window contributions are $a^{{\mathrm{SD}}}_{\mu} = 69.01(2)(21)[21] \times 10^{-10}$ and $a^{{\mathrm{W}}}_{\mu} = 236.57(20)(94)[96] \times 10^{-10}$. This work is part of our ongoing effort to compute all contributions to HVP with an overall uncertainty at the few permille level.

We present a comparison of different quantum state preparation algorithms and their overall efficiency for the Schwinger model with a theta term. While adiabatic state preparation (ASP) is proved to be effective, in practice it leads to large CNOT gate counts to prepare the ground state. The quantum approximate optimization algorithm (QAOA) provides excellent results while keeping the CNOT counts small by design, at the cost of an expensive classical minimization process. We introduce a ``blocked'' modification of the Schwinger Hamiltonian to be used in the QAOA that further decreases the length of the algorithms as the size of the problem is increased. The rodeo algorithm (RA) provides a powerful tool to efficiently prepare any eigenstate of the Hamiltonian, as long as its overlap with the initial guess is large enough. We obtain the best results when combining the blocked QAOA ansatz and the RA, as this provides an excellent initial state with a relatively short algorithm without the need to perform any classical steps for large problem sizes., Comment: 11 pages, 9 figures, 4 tables

We report on the ongoing effort of improving the determination of the gradient flow scale on the (2+1+1)-flavor HISQ ensembles generated by the MILC collaboration. We compute the scales $\sqrt{t_0}/a$ and $w_0/a$ with the Wilson and Symanzik flow using three discretizations for the action density: clover, Wilson and tree-level Symanzik improved. For the absolute scale setting, we intend to employ the $\Omega$-baryon mass, but are also using the pion decay constant while the $\Omega$-mass calculations are in progress., Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures, contribution to the 40th International Symposium on Lattice Field Theory (Lattice 2023), July 31 - August 4, 2023, Fermilab, USA

Motivated by attempts to quantum simulate lattice models with continuous Abelian symmetries using discrete approximations, we study an extended-O(2) model in two dimensions that differs from the ordinary O(2) model by the addition of an explicit symmetry breaking term $-h_q\cos(q\varphi)$. Its coupling $h_q$ allows to smoothly interpolate between the O(2) model ($h_q=0$) and a $q$-state clock model ($h_q\rightarrow\infty$). In the latter case, a $q$-state clock model can also be defined for noninteger values of $q$. Thus, such a limit can also be considered as an analytic continuation of an ordinary $q$-state clock model to noninteger $q$. In previous work, we established the phase diagram for noninteger $q$ in the infinite coupling limit ($h_q\rightarrow\infty$). We showed that there is a second-order phase transition at low temperature and a crossover at high temperature. In this work, we seek to establish the phase diagram at finite values of the coupling using Monte Carlo and tensor methods. We show that for noninteger $q$, the second-order phase transition at low temperature and crossover at high temperature persist to finite coupling. For integer $q=2,3,4$, we know there is a second-order phase transition at infinite coupling (i.e. the well-known clock models). At finite coupling, we find that the critical exponents for $q=3,4$ vary with the coupling, and for $q=4$ the transition may turn into a BKT transition at small coupling. We comment on the similarities and differences of the phase diagrams with those of quantum simulators of the Abelian-Higgs model based on ladder-shaped arrays of Rydberg atoms., Comment: 22 pages, 14 figures, 6 tables

We study the correlator of temporal Wilson lines at non-zero temperature in 2+1 flavor lattice QCD with the aim to define the heavy quark-antiquark potential at non-zero temperature. For temperatures $153~{\rm MeV} \leq T \leq 352~{\rm MeV}$ the spectral representation of this correlator is consistent with a broadened peak in the spectral function, position or width of which then defines the real or imaginary parts of the heavy quark-antiquark potential at non-zero temperature, respectively. We find that the potential's real part is not screened contrary to the widely-held expectations. We comment on how this fact may modify the picture of quarkonium melting in the quark-gluon plasma.

We present a lattice-QCD calculation of the light-quark connected contribution to window observables associated with the leading-order hadronic vacuum polarization contribution to the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon, $a_\mu^{\mathrm{HVP,LO}}$. We employ the MILC Collaboration's isospin-symmetric QCD gauge-field ensembles, which contain four flavors of dynamical highly-improved-staggered quarks with four lattice spacings between $a\approx 0.06$-$0.15$~fm and close-to-physical quark masses. We consider several effective-field-theory-based schemes for finite-volume and other lattice corrections and combine the results via Bayesian model averaging to obtain robust estimates of the associated systematic uncertainties. After unblinding, our final results for the intermediate and ``W2'' windows are $a^{ll,{\mathrm W}}_{\mu}(\mathrm{conn.})=206.6(1.0) \times 10^{-10}$ and $a^{ll,\mathrm {W2}}_{\mu}(\mathrm{conn.}) = 100.7(3.2)\times 10^{-10}$, respectively., Comment: v3: Updated to reflect published version, which includes updates to the text in Sections II.B, III.C,D,E. Numerical results unchanged

We present lattice-QCD calculations of the hadronic form factors for the semileptonic decays $D\to\pi\ell\nu$, $D\to K\ell\nu$, and $D_s\to K\ell\nu$. Our calculation uses the highly improved staggered quark (HISQ) action for all valence and sea quarks and includes $N_f=2+1+1$ MILC ensembles with lattice spacings ranging from $a\approx0.12$ fm down to $0.042$ fm. At most lattice spacings, an ensemble with physical-mass light quarks is included. The HISQ action allows all the quarks to be treated with the same relativistic light-quark action, allowing for nonperturbative renormalization using partial conservation of the vector current. We combine our results with experimental measurements of the differential decay rates to determine $|V_{cd}|^{D\to\pi}=0.2238(11)^{\rm Expt}(15)^{\rm QCD}(04)^{\rm EW}(02)^{\rm SIB}[22]^{\rm QED}$ and $|V_{cs}|^{D\to K}=0.9589(23)^{\rm Expt}(40)^{\rm QCD}(15)^{\rm EW}(05)^{\rm SIB}[95]^{\rm QED}$ This result for $|V_{cd}|$ is the most precise to date, with a lattice-QCD error that is, for the first time for the semileptonic extraction, at the same level as the experimental error. Using recent measurements from BES III, we also give the first-ever determination of $|V_{cd}|^{D_s\to K}=0.258(15)^{\rm Expt}(01)^{\rm QCD}[03]^{\rm QED}$ from $D_s\to K \ell\nu$. Our results also furnish new Standard Model calculations of the lepton flavor universality ratios $R^{D\to\pi}=0.98671(17)^{\rm QCD}[500]^{\rm QED}$, $R^{D\to K}=0.97606(16)^{\rm QCD}[500]^{\rm QED}$, and $R^{D_s\to K}=0.98099(10)^{\rm QCD}[500]^{\rm QED}$, which are consistent within $2\sigma$ with experimental measurements. Our extractions of $|V_{cd}|$ and $|V_{cs}|$, when combined with a value for $|V_{cb}|$, provide the most precise test of second-row CKM unitarity, finding agreement with unitarity at the level of one standard deviation., Comment: 92 pages, V2 matches version accepted for publication in PRD. Expanded supplementary material for reconstructing our final results. An implementation of nonlinear shrinkage is also included

Isospin-breaking corrections to the hadron vacuum polarization component of the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon are needed to ensure the theoretical precision of $g_\mu -2$ is below the experimental precision. We describe the status of our work calculating, using lattice QCD, the QED correction to the light and strange connected hadronic vacuum polarization in a Dashen scheme. We report results using physical $N_f=2+1+1$ HISQ ensembles at three lattice spacings and three heavier-than-light valence quark masses., Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures, to be published in Proceedings of Science, contribution to the 39th International Symposium on Lattice Field Theory, LATTICE2022, Bonn, Germany

Motivated by attempts to quantum simulate lattice models with continuous Abelian symmetries using discrete approximations, we consider an extended-O(2) model that differs from the ordinary O(2) model by an explicit symmetry breaking term. Its coupling allows to smoothly interpolate between the O(2) model (zero coupling) and a $q$-state clock model (infinite coupling). In the latter case, a $q$-state clock model can also be defined for non-integer values of $q$. Thus, such a limit can also be considered as an analytic continuation of an ordinary $q$-state clock model to non-integer $q$. The phase diagram of the extended-O(2) model in the infinite coupling limit was established in our previous work, where it was shown that for non-integer $q$, there is a second-order phase transition at low temperature and a crossover at high temperature. In this work, we investigate the model at finite values of the coupling using Monte Carlo and tensor methods. The results may be relevant for configurable Rydberg-atom arrays., Comment: 7 pages, 4 Figures; Talk given at the 39th International Symposium on Lattice Field theory (LATTICE2022) in Bonn, Germany; August 8-13 2022

Contribution from the USQCD Collaboration to the Proceedings of the US Community Study on the Future of Particle Physics (Snowmass 2021)., Comment: 27 pp. main text, 4 pp. appendices, 29 pp. references, 1 p. index

We report progress on calculating the contribution to the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon from the disconnected hadronic diagrams with light and strange quarks and the valence QED contribution to the connected diagrams. The lattice QCD calculations use the highly-improved staggered quark (HISQ) formulation. The gauge configurations were generated by the MILC Collaboration with four flavors of HISQ sea quarks with physical sea-quark masses., Comment: Proceedings for a talk at the 38th International Symposium on Lattice Field Theory, LATTICE2021, 26th-30th July, 2021, Zoom/Gather@Massachusetts Institute of Technology

We discuss recent progress in Tensor Lattice Field Theory and economical, symmetry preserving, truncations suitable for quantum computations or simulations. We focus on spin and gauge models with continuous Abelian symmetries such as the Abelian Higgs model and emphasize noise-robust implementations of Gauss's law. We discuss recent progress concerning the comparison between field digitizations and character expansions, symmetry breaking in tensor language, wave-packet preparation and possible new implementations of Abelian models using Rydberg atoms., Comment: Contribution to Lattice 2021, PoS(LATTICE2021)608 (submitted)

The $q$-state clock model is a classical spin model that corresponds to the Ising model when $q=2$ and to the $XY$ model when $q\to\infty$. The integer-$q$ clock model has been studied extensively and has been shown to have a single phase transition when $q=2$,$3$,$4$ and two phase transitions when $q>4$.We define an extended $q$-state clock model that reduces to the ordinary $q$-state clock model when $q$ is an integer and otherwise is a continuous interpolation of the clock model to noninteger $q$. We investigate this class of clock models in 2D using Monte Carlo (MC) and tensor renormalization group (TRG) methods, and we find that the model with noninteger $q$ has a crossover and a second-order phase transition. We also define an extended-$O(2)$ model (with a parameter $\gamma$) that reduces to the $XY$ model when $\gamma=0$ and to the extended $q$-state clock model when $\gamma\to\infty$, and we begin to outline the phase diagram of this model. These models with noninteger $q$ serve as a testbed to study symmetry breaking in situations corresponding to quantum simulators where experimental parameters can be tuned continuously., Comment: 9 pages, 8 figures, 38th International Symposium on Lattice Field Theory, LATTICE2021 26th-30th July, 2021 Zoom/Gather@Massachusetts Institute of Technology. arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:2105.10450

We report on preliminary results from the calculations of the QCD equation of state for 2+1+1 flavors using HISQ action. The calculations are performed on lattices with temporal extents $N_{\tau}=6,~8,~10$, and $12$ and aspect ratio $N_{\sigma}/N_{\tau}=4$. We find that there is a significant contribution to the pressure from charm quarks at temperatures $T> 300$ MeV., Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures; poster presented at "The 38th International Symposium on Lattice Field Theory", LATTICE2021, 26th-30th July, 2021 Zoom/Gather@Massachusetts Institute of Technology

It is not possible, using standard lattice techniques in Euclidean space, to calculate the complete fermionic spectrum of a quantum field theory. Algorithms running on quantum computers have the potential to access the theory with real-time evolution, enabling a direct computation. As a testing ground we consider the 1 + 1-dimensional Schwinger model with the presence of a {\theta} term using a staggered fermions discretization. We study the convergence properties of two different algorithms - adiabatic evolution and the Quantum Approximate Optimization Algorithm - with an emphasis on their cost in terms of CNOT gates. This is crucial to understand the feasibility of these algorithms, because calculations on near-term quantum devices depend on their rapid convergence. We also propose a blocked algorithm that has the first indications of a better scaling behavior with the dimensionality of the problem., Comment: 9 pages, 2 figures, 38th International Symposium on Lattice Field Theory, LATTICE2021 26th-30th July, 2021 Zoom/Gather@Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The smoothing procedure known as the gradient flow that suppresses ultraviolet fluctuations of gauge fields plays an important role in lattice gauge theory calculations. In particular, this procedure is often used for high-precision scale setting and renormalization of operators. The gradient flow equation is defined on the SU(3) manifold and therefore requires geometric, or structure-preserving, integration methods to obtain its numerical solutions. We examine the properties and origins of the three-stage third-order explicit Runge-Kutta Lie group integrator commonly used in the lattice gauge theory community, demonstrate its relation to 2N-storage classical Runge-Kutta methods and explore how its coefficients can be tuned for optimal performance in integrating the gradient flow. We also compare the performance of the tuned method with two third-order variable step size methods. Next, based on the recently established connection between low-storage Lie group integrators and classical 2N-storage Runge-Kutta methods, we study two fourth-order low-storage methods that provide a computationally efficient alternative to the commonly used third-order method while retaining the convenient iterative property of the latter. Finally, we demonstrate that almost no coding effort is needed to implement the low-storage Lie group methods into existing gradient flow codes., Comment: 18 pages, 13 figures

We review lattice studies of the color screening in the quark-gluon plasma. We put the phenomena related to the color screening into the context of similar aspects of other physical systems (electromagnetic plasma or cold nuclear matter). We discuss the onset of the color screening and its signature and significance in the QCD transition region, and elucidate at which temperature and to which extent the weak-coupling picture based on hard thermal loop expansion, potential nonrelativistic QCD, or dimensionally-reduced QCD quantitatively captures the key properties of the color screening. We discuss the different regimes pertaining to the color screening and thermal dissociation of the static quarks in depth for various spatial correlation functions that are studied on the lattice, and clarify the status of their asymptotic screening masses. We finally discuss the screening correlation functions of dynamical mesons with a wide range of flavor and spin content, and how they conform with expectations for low- and high-temperature behavior., Comment: 93 pages, 31 figures, accepted for publication in Progress in Particle and Nuclear Physics

We propose to create a secondary beam of neutral kaons in Hall D at Jefferson Lab to be used with the GlueX experimental setup for strange hadron spectroscopy. The superior CEBAF electron beam will enable a flux on the order of $1\times 10^4~K_L/sec$, which exceeds the flux of that previously attained at SLAC by three orders of magnitude. The use of a deuteron target will provide first measurements ever with neutral kaons on neutrons. The experiment will measure both differential cross sections and self-analyzed polarizations of the produced $\Lambda$, $\Sigma$, $\Xi$, and $\Omega$ hyperons using the GlueX detector at the Jefferson Lab Hall D. The measurements will span CM $\cos\theta$ from $-0.95$ to 0.95 in the range W = 1490 MeV to 2500 MeV. The new data will significantly constrain the partial wave analyses and reduce model-dependent uncertainties in the extraction of the properties and pole positions of the strange hyperon resonances, and establish the orbitally excited multiplets in the spectra of the $\Xi$ and $\Omega$ hyperons. Comparison with the corresponding multiplets in the spectra of the charm and bottom hyperons will provide insight into he accuracy of QCD-based calculations over a large range of masses. The proposed facility will have a defining impact in the strange meson sector through measurements of the final state $K\pi$ system up to 2 GeV invariant mass. This will allow the determination of pole positions and widths of all relevant $K^\ast(K\pi)$ $S$-,$P$-,$D$-,$F$-, and $G$-wave resonances, settle the question of the existence or nonexistence of scalar meson $\kappa/K_0^\ast(700)$ and improve the constrains on their pole parameters. Subsequently improving our knowledge of the low-lying scalar nonet in general., Comment: Final version of the KLF Proposal [C12-19-001] approved by JLab PAC48. The intermediate version of the proposal was posted in arXiv:1707.05284 [hep-ex]. 103 pages, 52 figures, 8 tables, 324 references. Several typos were fixed

A new format for commutator-free Lie group methods is proposed based on explicit classical Runge-Kutta schemes. In this format exponentials are reused at every stage and the storage is required only for two quantities: the right hand side of the differential equation evaluated at a given Runge-Kutta stage and the function value updated at the same stage. The next stage of the scheme is able to overwrite these values. The result is proven for a 3-stage third order method and a conjecture for higher order methods is formulated. Five numerical examples are provided in support of the conjecture. This new class of structure-preserving integrators has a wide variety of applications for numerically solving differential equations on manifolds., Comment: 41 pages, 10 figures. Minor revisions to bring the preprint in line with the final published version. The published version is slightly shortened in the introductory part

We present lattice QCD results for mesonic screening masses in the temperature range 140 MeV $\lesssim T \lesssim$ 2500 MeV. Our calculations were carried out using (2+1)-flavors of the Highly Improved Staggered Quark (HISQ) action, with a physical value for the strange quark mass and two values of the light quark mass corresponding to pion masses of 160 MeV and 140 MeV. Continuum-extrapolated results were obtained using calculations with a variety of lattice spacings corresponding to temporal lattice extents $N_\tau = 6 - 16$. We discuss the implications of these results for the effective restoration of various symmetries in the high temperature phase of QCD, as well as the approach toward the perturbative limit., Comment: Corrected some errors pertaining to the discussion on emergent SU(2)CS and SU(4) symmetries

We present two determinations of the strong coupling \(\alpha_s\). The first one is from the static energy at three-loop accuracy, and may be considered an update of earlier determinations by some of us. The new analysis includes new lattice data at smaller lattice spacings, and reaches distances as short as \(0.0237\,{\rm fm}\). We present a comprehensive and detailed estimate of the error sources that contribute to the uncertainty of the final result, $\alpha_s(M_Z)=0.11660^{+0.00110}_{-0.00056}$. The second determination is based on lattice data for the singlet free energy at finite temperature up to distances as small as \(0.0081\,{\rm fm}\), from which we obtain $\alpha_s(M_Z)=0.11638^{+0.0009 5}_{-0.00087}$., Comment: 23 pages, 14 figures

This document is one of a series of whitepapers from the USQCD collaboration. Here, we outline the opportunities for, prospects of and challenges to the lattice QCD calculations relevant for the understanding of the phases and properties of hot-dense QCD matter. This program of lattice QCD calculations is relevant to current and upcoming heavy-ion experimental programs at RHIC and LHC., Comment: USQCD whitepaper 2018

This whitepaper is an outcome of the workshop Intersections between Nuclear Physics and Quantum Information held at Argonne National Laboratory on 28-30 March 2018 [www.phy.anl.gov/npqi2018/]. The workshop brought together 116 national and international experts in nuclear physics and quantum information science to explore opportunities for the two fields to collaborate on topics of interest to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science, Office of Nuclear Physics, and more broadly to U.S. society and industry. The workshop consisted of 22 invited and 10 contributed talks, as well as three panel discussion sessions. Topics discussed included quantum computation, quantum simulation, quantum sensing, nuclear physics detectors, nuclear many-body problem, entanglement at collider energies, and lattice gauge theories., Comment: 22 pages, Outcome of the workshop: Intersections between Nuclear Physics and Quantum Information

We study the $SU(2)$ gauge-Higgs model in two Euclidean dimensions using the tensor renormalization group (TRG) approach. We derive a tensor formulation for this model in the unitary gauge and compare the expectation values of different observables between TRG and Monte Carlo simulations finding excellent agreement between the two methods. In practice we find the TRG method to be far superior to Monte Carlo simulation for calculations of the Polyakov loop correlation function which is used to extract the static quark potential., Comment: 11 pages, 11 figures

We calculate the Equation of State at high temperatures in (2+1) flavor QCD using the highly improved staggered quark (HISQ) action. We study the lattice spacing dependence of the pressure at high temperatures using lattices with temporal extent $N_{\tau}=6,~8,~10$ and $12$ and perform continuum extrapolations. We also give a continuum estimate for the Equation of State up to temperatures $T=2\,$GeV, which are then compared with results of the weak-coupling calculations. We find reasonable agreement with the HTL calculation at the highest temperatures and a tension with the EQCD calculation of a few percent, with the lattice results in the middle between both., Comment: Parallel talk at the XIIIth Quark Confinement and the Hadron Spectrum conference. 12 pages, 8 figures

We show that the Polyakov loop of the two-dimensional lattice Abelian Higgs model can be calculated using the tensor renormalization group approach. We check the accuracy of the results using standard Monte Carlo simulations. We show that the energy gap produced by the insertion of the Polyakov loop obeys universal finite-size scaling which persists in the time continuum limit. We briefly discuss the relevance of these results for quantum simulations., Comment: 10 pages, 11 figures, 1 table

We study correlation functions of spatially separated static quark-antiquark pairs in (2+1)-flavor QCD in order to investigate onset and nature of color screening at high temperatures. We perform lattice calculations in a wide temperature range, $140 \le T \le 5814\,{\rm MeV}$, using the highly improved staggered quark action and several lattice spacings to control discretization effects. By comparing at high temperatures our lattice results to weak-coupling calculations as well as to the zero temperature result for the energy of a static quark-antiquark pair, we observe that color screening sets in at $rT \approx 0.3$. Furthermore, we also observe that in the range $0.3 \lesssim r T \lesssim 0.6$ weak-coupling calculations in the framework of suitable effective field theories provide an adequate picture of color screening., Comment: 48 pages; 33 figures

We discuss color screening in 2+1 flavor QCD in terms of free energies of a static quark-antiquark pair. Thermal modifications of long distance correlations in quark-antiquark systems are studied in terms of static meson correlators. We calculate the Polyakov loop correlator, the color-singlet Wilson line correlator in Coulomb gauge and the cyclic Wilson loop on lattices using the HISQ/Tree action and almost physical quark mases with $N_\tau= 4, 6, 8, 10, 12$. We present results in the continuum limit for temperatures up to $T \lesssim 650$ MeV and discuss the linear divergence of the cyclic Wilson loop., Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures

We present a gauge-invariant effective action for the Abelian-Higgs model in 1+1 dimensions. It is constructed by integrating out the gauge field and then using the hopping parameter expansion. The latter is tested with Monte Carlo simulations for small values of the scalar self-coupling. In the opposite limit, at infinitely large self-coupling, the Higgs mode is frozen and the partition function can be written in terms of local tensors and the tensor renormalization group blocking can be applied. The numerical implementation requires truncations and the time continuum limit of the blocked transfer matrix can be obtained numerically. At zero gauge coupling and with a spin-1 truncation, the small volume energy spectrum is identical to the low energy spectrum of a two-species Bose-Hubbard model in the limit of large onsite repulsion. The procedure is extended to finite gauge coupling and we derive a spin-1 approximation of the Hamiltonian which involves terms corresponding to transitions among the two species in the Bose-Hubbard model. An optical lattice implementation involving a ladder structure is proposed., Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, talk presented at the XXXIII International Symposium on Lattice Field Theory, July 14-18, 2015, Kobe, Japan

This is a review of selected recent developments in finite-temperature lattice QCD. The focus is on the properties of the chiral crossover region, deconfinement and fluctuations of conserved charges, the equation of state, properties of heavy quarkonia and reconstruction of spectral functions., Comment: 20 pages, 23 figures, plenary talk presented at the 32nd International Symposium on Lattice Field Theory, June 23-28, 2014, Columbia University, New York City, NY

We present a gauge-invariant effective action for the Abelian Higgs model (scalar electrodynamics) with a chemical potential $\mu$ on a 1+1 dimensional lattice. This formulation provides an expansion in the hopping parameter $\kappa$ which we test with Monte Carlo simulations for a broad range of the inverse gauge coupling $\beta_{pl}$ and small values of the scalar self-coupling $\lambda$. In the opposite limit of infinitely large $\lambda$, the partition function can be written as a traced product of local tensors which allows us to write exact blocking formulas. Their numerical implementation requires truncations but there is no sign problem for arbitrary values of $\mu$. We show that the time continuum limit of the blocked transfer matrix can be obtained numerically and, in the limit of infinite $\beta_{pl}$ and with a spin-1 truncation, the small volume energy spectrum is identical to the low energy spectrum of a two-species Bose-Hubbard model in the limit of large onsite repulsion. We extend this procedure for finite $\beta_{pl}$ and derive a spin-1 approximation of the Hamiltonian. It involves new terms corresponding to transitions among the two species in the Bose-Hubbard model. We propose an optical lattice implementation involving a ladder structure., Comment: 10 pages, 9 figures

We discuss the U(1)-Higgs model in two dimensions in the strongly coupled regime. If we neglect the plaquette interactions, we generate an effective theory where link variables are integrated out, producing 4-field operators. Plaquette interactions can be restored order by order as in recent calculations with staggered fermions. In the case of a SU(2) gauge theory with fermions, this strong coupling expansion can be related to the strong coupling expansion of Fermi-Hubbard models possibly implementable on optical lattice. We would like to provide a similar construction relating the U(1)-Higgs model to some Bose-Hubbard model. As a first step in this direction, we discuss a recent proposal to implement the O(2) model on optical lattices using a 87Rb and 41K Bose-Bose mixture of cold atoms., Comment: 7 pages, poster presented at the XXXII International Symposium on Lattice Field Theory, June 23-28, 2014, Columbia University, New York City, NY

We calculate spatial correlation functions of in-medium mesons consisting of strange--anti-strange, strange--anti-charm and charm--anti-charm quarks in (2+1)-flavor lattice QCD using the highly improved staggered quark action. A comparative study of the in-medium modifications of mesons with different flavor contents is performed. We observe significant in-medium modifications for the $\phi$ and $D_s$ meson channels already at temperatures around the chiral crossover region. On the other hand, for the $J/\psi$ and $\eta_c$ meson channels in-medium modifications remain relatively small around the chiral crossover region and become significant only above 1.3 times the chiral crossover temperature.

We present an update of our determination of the strong coupling alpha_s from the quantum chromodynamics static energy. This updated analysis includes new lattice data, at smaller lattice spacings and reaching shorter distances, the use of better suited perturbative expressions to compare with data in a wider distance range, and a comprehensive and detailed estimate of the error sources that contribute to the uncertainty of the final result. Our updated value for alpha_s at the Z-mass scale, M_Z, is alpha_s(M_Z)=0.1166^{+0.0012}_{-0.0008}, which supersedes our previous result., Comment: 20 pages, 23 figures. v2: Minor changes. Journal version. v3: Misprint corrected in Eq.(11), results unchanged

I discuss recent results on lattice QCD calculations with the main emphasis on the thermodynamics of the crossover region, restoration of the chiral symmetry and fluctuations of conserved charges as indicator of deconfinement, that may also be used to determine the chemical freeze-out conditions in heavy-ion collision experiments., Comment: Talk presented at Hot Quarks 2012, to be published in the proceedings, 6 pages, 8 figures

Fisher zeros are the zeros of the partition function in the complex beta=2N_c/g^2 plane. When they pinch the real axis, finite size scaling allows one to distinguish between first and second order transition and to estimate exponents. On the other hand, a gap signals confinement and the method can be used to explore the boundary of the conformal window. We present recent numerical results for 2D O(N) sigma models, 4D U(1) and SU(2) pure gauge and SU(3) gauge theory with N_f=4 and 12 flavors. We discuss attempts to understand some of these results using analytical methods. We discuss the 2-lattice matching and qualitative aspects of the renormalization group (RG) flows in the Migdal-Kadanoff approximation, in particular how RG flows starting at large beta seem to move around regions where bulk transitions occur. We consider the effects of the boundary conditions on the nonperturbative part of the average energy and on the Fisher zeros for the 1D O(2) model., Comment: PoS(Lattice 2012)229, submitted version

One of the fundamental properties of the quark-gluon plasma (QGP), the equation of state, is a subject of extensive studies in lattice QCD and an essential requirement for the correct hydrodynamic modeling of heavy-ion collisions. Lattice QCD provides first-principle calculations for the physics in the non-perturbative regime. In this contribution, we report on recent progress by the HotQCD collaboration in studying the 2+1 flavor equation of state on lattices with the temporal extent N_tau=6, 8, 10 and 12 in Highly Improved Staggered Quarks (HISQ) discretization scheme. Comparisons with equation of state calculations with different fermion actions are also discussed., Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, talk presented at the Quark Matter 2012 International Conference, Washington D.C., Aug 13-18, 2012

We compare lattice data for the short-distance part of the static energy in 2+1 flavor quantum chromodynamics (QCD) with perturbative calculations, up to next-to-next-to-next-to leading-logarithmic accuracy. We show that perturbation theory describes very well the lattice data at short distances, and exploit this fact to obtain a determination of the product of the lattice scale r_0 with the QCD scale Lambda_{MS}. With the input of the value of r_0, this provides a determination of the strong coupling alpha_s at the typical distance scale of the lattice data. We obtain alpha_s(1.5 GeV)=0.326\pm0.019, which provides a novel determination of alpha_s at low energy and with three-loop accuracy (including resummation of the leading ultrasoft logarithms). When this value is evolved to the Z-mass scale M_Z, it corresponds to alpha_s(M_Z)=0.1156^{+0.0021}_{-0.0022}., Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures. v2: Minor changes, references added. Journal version

We present results on the chiral transition temperature Tc in 2+1 flavor QCD extrapolated to the continuum limit and the physical light quark mass. The extrapolations are based on the data from simulations on lattices with temporal extent Ntau=6, 8 and 12 with the HISQ/tree and Ntau=8 and 12 with the asqtad action. The chiral transition is analyzed in terms of universal O(N) scaling functions. After performing simultaneous asqtad and HISQ/tree continuum extrapolation the chiral transition temperature is Tc=154 +/- 9 MeV. We also discuss the deconfinement aspects of the transition in terms of the renormalized Polyakov loop, fluctuations and correlations of several conserved charges and the trace anomaly., Comment: 7 pages, 8 figures, talk presented at the XXIX International Symposium on Lattice Field Theory - Lattice 2011, July 10-16, 2011, Squaw Valley, Lake Tahoe, California

The zeros of the partition function in the complex beta plane (Fisher's zeros) play an important role in our understanding of phase transitions and RG flows. Recently, we argued that they act as gates or separatrices for complex RG flows. Using histogram reweighting to construct the density of states, we calculate the Fisher's zeros for pure gauge SU(2) and U(1) on L^4 lattices. For SU(2), these zeros appear to move almost horizontally when the volume increases. They stay away from the real axis which indicates a confining theory at zero temperature. We discuss the effect of an adjoint term on these results. In contrast, using recent multicanonical simulations for the U(1) model for L up to 8 we find that the zeros pinch the real axis near beta =1.0113. Preliminary results concerning U(1) at larger volumes, SU(3) with 3 light flavors and plans to delimit the boundary of the conformal window are briefly discussed., Comment: 7 pages, 8 figures, Poster presented at the XXIX International Symposium on Lattice Field Theory (Lattice 2011), July 10-16, 2011, Squaw Valley, Lake Tahoe, California, USA

We study the $B \to Kl^+l^-$ semileptonic decay process in three-flavor lattice QCD. We analyze several ensembles generated by the MILC collaboration at different lattice spacings and sea-quark masses. We use the asqtad improved staggered action for the light quarks and the clover action with the Fermilab interpretation for the heavy $b$ quark. We present preliminary results for the vector current induced form factors for a range of kaon energies. Our analysis includes chiral and continuum extrapolations based on SU(2) staggered \chi PT., Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, presented at The XXIX International Symposium on Lattice Field Theory - Lattice 2011, July 10-16, 2011, Squaw Valley, Lake Tahoe, California

Taste symmetry violations in staggered fermion formulations correlate strongly with the cut-off (lattice spacing) dependence in thermodynamic quantities. Better taste symmetry on the lattice can be achieved either by decreasing the lattice spacing and going to larger temporal extent in finite-temperature calculations, or by further improving the action. The highly improved staggered quark (HISQ) action offers a further degree of improvement and substantially reduces taste violations. We report on our studies of the 2+1 flavor QCD thermodynamics with the HISQ/tree action. By systematically comparing HISQ/tree, asqtad, p4 and stout calculations we quantify how the cut-off effects manifest themselves in different thermodynamic quantities, including the renormalized Polyakov loop, chiral condensate, various fluctuations and correlations of conserved charges. The implications for the equation of state and a comparison to the hadron resonance gas model are also discussed. The chiral aspects of the finite-temperature transition are discussed in the companion HotQCD contribution [1]., Comment: 7 pages, 7 figures, talk presented at the XXVIII International Symposium on Lattice Field Theory, June 14-19, 2010, Villasimius, Sardinia, Italy

We report on investigations of the chiral and deconfinement aspects of the finite temperature transition in 2+1 flavor QCD using the Highly Improved Staggered Quark (HISQ) action on lattices with temporal extent $N_\tau=6$ and $N_\tau=8$. We have performed the calculations for physical values of the strange quark mass $m_s$ and the light quark masses $m_l=0.2m_s$ and $0.05m_s$. Several finite temperature observables, including the renormalized Polyakov loop, the renormalized chiral condensate and the chiral susceptibility have been calculated. We also study the fluctuations and correlations of different conserved charges as well as the trace anomaly at finite temperature. We compare our findings with previous calculations that use different improved staggered fermion formulations: asqtad, p4 and stout., Comment: 16 pages, 17 figures, talk presented at the 26th Winter Workshop on Nuclear Dynamics, Ocho Rios, Jamaica, January 2-9, 2010, to be published in Journal of Physics: Conference Series (JPCS)

We report on investigations of the chiral and deconfinement aspects of the finite temperature transition in 2+1 flavor QCD using the Highly Improved Staggered Quark (HISQ) action on lattices with temporal extent $N_\tau=6$ and $N_\tau=8$. We have calculated several physical observables, including the renormalized Polyakov loop, strangeness fluctuations, the renormalized chiral condensate and the chiral susceptibility in the crossover region for physical values of the strange quark mass $m_s$ and light quark masses $m_l=0.2m_s$ and $0.05m_s$. We compare our findings with previous calculations that use different improved staggered fermion formulations: asqtad, p4 and stout., Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, talk presented at the XXVII International Symposium on Lattice Field Theory, July 26-31, 2009, Peking University, Beijing, China

Deconfined regions in relativistic heavy ion collisions are limited to small volumes surrounded by a confined exterior. Here the geometry of a double layered torus is discussed, which allows for different temperatures in its two layers. This geometry enables one to approach the QCD continuum limit for small deconfined volumes with confined exteriors in a more realistic fashion than by using periodic boundary conditions. Preliminary data from a study for pure SU(3) lattice gauge theory support a substantial increase in a pseudo transition temperature., Comment: Lattice 2009, 7 pages, 6 figures

We discuss properties of heavy quarkonium states at high temperatures based on lattice QCD and potential models. We review recent progress made in lattice calculations of spatial static quark anti-quark correlators as well as quarkonium correlators in Euclidean time. Recent developments in effective field theory approach and potential models are also discussed., Comment: 50 pages, 30 figures, 2 tables; invited review for chapter in "Quark-Gluon Plasma 4