We study the spectrum of the staggered Dirac operator in SU(2) gauge fields close to the free limit, for both the fundamental and the adjoint representation. Numerically we find a characteristic cluster structure with spacings of adjacent levels separating into three scales. We derive an analytical formula which explains the emergence of these different spectral scales. The behavior on the two coarser scales is determined by the lattice geometry and the Polyakov loops, respectively. Furthermore, we analyze the spectral statistics on all three scales, comparing to predictions from random matrix theory.
We present a phase diagram for SU(3) lattice gauge theory with 695 MeV dynamical staggered fermions, in the plane of temperature and chemical potential, obtained from effective Polyakov line actions. The derivation is via the method of relative weights, and the effective theories are solved at finite chemical potential by mean field theory.
We investigate low-lying fermion modes in SU(2) gauge theory at temperatures above the phase transition. Both staggered and overlap spectra reveal transitions from chaotic (random matrix) to integrable (Poissonian) behavior accompanied by an increasing localization of the eigenmodes. We show that the latter are trapped by local Polyakov loop fluctuations. Islands of such "wrong" Polyakov loops can therefore be viewed as defects leading to Anderson localization in gauge theories. We find strong similarities in the spatial profile of these localized staggered and overlap eigenmodes. We discuss p…
We report on the first steps of an ongoing project to add gauge observables and gauge corrections to the well-studied strong coupling limit of staggered lattice QCD, which has been shown earlier to be amenable to numerical simulations by the worm algorithm in the chiral limit and at finite density. Here we show how to evaluate the expectation value of the Polyakov loop in the framework of the strong coupling limit at finite temperature, allowing to study confinement properties along with those of chiral symmetry breaking. We find the Polyakov loop to rise smoothly, thus signalling deconfinemen…
To clarify the relation between chiral symmetry breaking and color confinement, we investigate the Polyakov loop in terms of the Dirac eigenmodes in SU(3) lattice QCD. We analyze the low-lying (IR) and UV Dirac-mode contribution to the Polyakov loop, respectively, using the Dirac-mode expansion method. In the confined phase, the Polyakov loop $< L_P >$ remains almost zero and $Z_3$ center symmetry is thus unbroken, even after removing low-lying Dirac-modes, which are responsible to chiral symmetry breaking. In the confined phase, the Polyakov loop $< L_P >$ also remains almost zero by UV Dirac…
In order to investigate the direct relation between confinement and chiral symmetry breaking in QCD, we investigate the Polyakov loop in terms of the Dirac eigenmodes in both confined and deconfined phases. Using the Dirac-mode expansion method in SU(3) lattice QCD, we analyze the contribution of low-lying and higher Dirac-modes to the Polyakov loop, respectively.In the confined phase below T_c, after removing low-lying Dirac-modes, the chiral condensate $< \bar{q} q>$ is largely reduced, however, the Polyakov loop remains almost zero and Z_3-center symmetry is unbroken. These results indicate…
We derive an analytical gauge-invariant relation between the Polyakov loop $\langle L_P \rangle$ and the Dirac eigenvalues $λ_n$ in QCD, i.e., $\langle L_P \rangle \propto \sum_n λ_n^{N_t -1} \langle n|\hat U_4|n \rangle$, on a temporally odd-number lattice, where the temporal lattice size $N_t$ is odd. Here, we use an ordinary square lattice with the normal (nontwisted) periodic boundary condition for link-variables in the temporal direction. This relation is a Dirac spectral representation of the Polyakov loop in terms of Dirac eigenmodes $|n\rangle$. Because of the factor $λ_n^{N_t -1}$ in …
In lattice QCD formalism, we derive an analytical gauge-invariant relation between the Polyakov loop $\langle L_P \rangle$ and the Dirac eigenvalues $λ_n$ in QCD, i.e., $\langle L_P \rangle \propto \sum_n λ_n^{N_t -1} \langle n|\hat U_4|n \rangle$, by considering ${\rm Tr} (\hat{U}_4\hat{\not{D}}^{N_t-1})$ on a temporally odd-number lattice, where the temporal lattice size $N_t$ is odd. This formula is a Dirac spectral representation of the Polyakov loop in terms of Dirac eigenmodes $|n\rangle$. We here use an ordinary square lattice with the normal (nontwisted) periodic boundary condition for…
Using the Dirac-mode expansion method, which keeps the gauge invariance, we analyze the Polyakov loop in terms of the Dirac modes in SU(3) quenched lattice QCD in both confined and deconfined phases. First, to investigate the direct correspondence between confinement and chiral symmetry breaking, we remove low-lying Dirac-modes from the confined vacuum generated by lattice QCD. In this system without low-lying Dirac modes, while the chiral condensate $\langle \bar{q} q\rangle$ is extremely reduced, we find that the Polyakov loop is almost zero and $Z_3$-center symmetry is unbroken, which indic…
Dirac spectrum representations of the Polyakov loop fluctuations are derived on the temporally odd-number lattice, where the temporal length is odd with the periodic boundary condition. We investigate the Polyakov loop fluctuations based on these analytical relations. It is semianalytically and numerically found that the low-lying Dirac eigenmodes have little contribution to the Polyakov loop fluctuations, which are sensitive probe for the quark deconfinement. Our results suggest no direct one-to-one corresponding between quark confinement and chiral symmetry breaking in QCD.
We investigate correlations of the Polyakov loop fluctuations with eigenmodes of the lattice Dirac operator. Their analytic relations are derived on the temporally odd-number size lattice with the normal non-twisted periodic boundary condition for the link-variables. We find that the low-lying Dirac modes yield negligible contributions to the Polyakov loop fluctuations. This property is confirmed to be valid in confined and deconfined phase by numerical simulations in SU(3) quenched QCD. These results indicate that there is no direct, one-to-one correspondence between confinement and chiral sy…
In preparation of lattice studies of the two-color QCD phase diagram we study chiral restoration and deconfinement at finite temperature with two flavors of staggered quarks using an RHMC algorithm on GPUs. We first study unquenching effects in local Polyakov loop distributions, and the Polyakov loop potential obtained via Legendre transformation, in a fixed-scale approach for heavier quarks. We also present the chiral condensate and the corresponding susceptibility over the lattice coupling across the chiral transition for lighter quarks. Using Ferrenberg-Swendsen reweighting we extract the m…
We derive an analytical gauge-invariant formula between the Polyakov loop $L_P$ and the Dirac eigenvalues $λ_n$ in QCD, i.e., $L_P \propto \sum_n λ_n^{N_t -1} \langle n|\hat U_4|n \rangle$, in ordinary periodic square lattice QCD with odd-number temporal size $N_t$. Here, $|n\rangle$ denotes the Dirac eigenstate, and $\hat U_4$ temporal link-variable operator. This formula is a Dirac spectral representation of the Polyakov loop in terms of Dirac eigenmodes $|n\rangle$. Because of the factor $λ_n^{N_t -1}$ in the Dirac spectral sum, this formula indicates negligibly small contribution of low-ly…
We study chiral properties of eigenvalue spectrum for staggered quarks. We present a new method to identify would-be zero modes and nonzero modes using their symmetry and chiral properties. Here, we review the traditional method with HYP improved staggered quarks, and extend it to a completely new method which uses the chiral Ward identities and leakage patterns to achieve the goal.
We investigate the contribution from each Dirac modes to the Polyakov loop based on a gauge-invariant analytical relation connecting the Polyakov loop and the Dirac modes on a temporally odd-number lattice, where the temporal lattice size is odd, with the normal (nontwisted) periodic boundary condition. The dumping factor in the relation plays crucial role for the negligible contribution of low-lying Dirac modes to the Polyakov loop. The zero-value of the Polyakov loop in the confinement phase is due to the ``positive/negative symmetry'' of the Dirac-mode contribution to the Polyakov loop. In …
We study the low eigenmodes of the overlap and staggered Dirac operator at high temperature. We show that the recently found localized quark modes obeying Poisson statistics are connected to physical gauge field objects with their size and density scaling in the continuum limit. The localized modes are also strongly correlated with large fluctuations of the Polyakov loop. Based on that we construct a random matrix model of the low Dirac modes inspired by dimensional reduction. Our model reproduces the Poisson to random matrix transition seen in the lattice Dirac spectrum.
We use the gradient flow for the renormalization of the Polyakov loop in various representations. Using 2+1 flavor QCD with highly improved staggered quarks and lattices with temporal extents of $N_τ=6$, $8$, $10$ and $12$ we calculate the renormalized Polyakov loop in many representations including fundamental, sextet, adjoint, decuplet, 15-plet, 24-plet and 27-plet. This approach allows for the calculations of the renormalized Polyakov loops over a large temperature range from $T=116$ MeV up to $T=815$ MeV, with small errors not only for the Polyakov loop in fundamental representation, but a…
We study Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD) with 2+1 flavors with almost physical quark masses using the highly improved staggered quark action (HISQ). We calculate the Polyakov loop in a wide temperature range, obtain the free energy and the entropy of a single static quark and discuss the QCD crossover region in detail. We show that the entropy has a peak close to the chiral crossover and consider the consequences for the deconfinement aspects of the crossover phenomena. We study the renormalized Polyakov loop susceptibilities and place them into the context of the crossover. We also obtain a quan…
We study the temperature dependence of the renormalized Polyakov loop in 2+1 flavor QCD for temperatures T<210 MeV. We extend previous calculations by the HotQCD collaboration using the highly improved staggered quark action and perform a continuum extrapolation of the renormalized Polyakov loop. We compare the lattice results with the prediction of non-interacting static-light hadron resonance gas, which describes the temperature dependence of the renormalized Polyakov loop up to T<140 MeV but fails above that temperature. Furthermore, we discuss the temperature dependence of the light and st…
Evaluation of the continuum limit of the axial anomaly and index is sketched for the staggered overlap Dirac operator. There are new complications compared to the usual overlap case due to the distribution of the spin and flavor components around lattice hypercubes in the staggered formalism. The index is found to correctly reproduce the continuum index, but for the axial anomaly this is only true after averaging over the sites of a lattice hypercube.
We study the chirality of staggered quarks on the Dirac eigenvalue spectrum using deep learning (DL) techniques. The Kluberg-Stern method to construct staggered bilinear operators conserves continuum property such as recursion relations, uniqueness of chirality, and Ward identities, which leads to a unique and characteristic pattern (we call it "leakage pattern (LP)") in the matrix elements of the chirality operator sandwiched between two quark eigenstates of staggered Dirac operator. DL analysis gives $99.4(2)\%$ accuracy on normal gauge configurations and $0.998$ AUC (Area Under ROC Curve) f…
In the lattice QCD formalism, we derive a gauge-invariant analytical relation connecting the Polyakov loop and the Dirac modes on a temporally odd-number lattice, where the temporal lattice size is odd, with the normal (nontwisted) periodic boundary condition. This analytical relation indicates that low-lying Dirac modes have little contribution to the Polyakov loop. Using lattice QCD simulations, we numerically confirm the analytical relation and the negligible contribution of low-lying Dirac modes to the Polyakov loop at the quenched level, i.e., the Polyakov loop is almost unchanged by remo…
We apply the relative weights method to extract an effective Polyakov line action, at finite chemical potential, from an underlying $SU(3)$ lattice gauge theory with dynamical fermions. The center-symmetry breaking terms in the effective theory are fit to a form suggested by the hopping-parameter expansion, and the effective action is solved at finite chemical potential by a mean field approach. We present preliminary results for one-link staggered fermions with mass $ma=1.0$ and Wilson gauge action at $β=5.4$ on $L^3\times4$ lattices with $L=16$.
To clarify the relation between confinement and chiral symmetry breaking in QCD, we consider a temporally odd-number lattice, with the temporal lattice size $N_t$ being odd. We here use an ordinary square lattice with the normal (nontwisted) periodic boundary condition for link-variables in the temporal direction. By considering ${\rm Tr} (\hat{U}_4\hat{\not D}^{N_t-1})$, we analytically derive a gauge-invariant relation between the Polyakov loop $\langle L_P \rangle$ and the Dirac eigenvalues $λ_n$ in QCD, i.e., $\langle L_P \rangle \propto \sum_n λ_n^{N_t -1} \langle n|\hat U_4|n \rangle$, w…
We study the free energy of a static quark in QCD with 2+1 flavors in a wide temperature region, 116 MeV $< T < $ 5814 MeV, using the highly improved staggered quark (HISQ) action. We analyze the transition region in detail, obtain the entropy of a static quark, show that it peaks at temperatures close to the chiral crossover temperature and also revisit the temperature dependence of the Polyakov loop susceptibilities using gradient flow. We discuss the implications of our findings for the deconfinement and chiral crossover phenomena at physical values of the quark masses. Finally a comparison…
We study the correlators of Polyakov loops, and the corresponding gauge invariant free energy of a static quark-antiquark pair in 2+1 flavor QCD at finite temperature. Our simulations were carried out on $N_t$ = 6, 8, 10, 12, 16 lattices using Symanzik improved gauge action and a stout improved staggered action with physical quark masses. The free energies calculated from the Polyakov loop correlators are extrapolated to the continuum limit. For the free energies we use a two step renormalization procedure that only uses data at finite temperature. We also measure correlators with definite Euc…
In the lattice QCD formalism, we investigate the relation between confinement and chiral symmetry breaking. A gauge-invariant analytical relation connecting the Polyakov loop and the Dirac modes is derived on a temporally odd-number lattice, where the temporal lattice size is odd, with the normal (nontwisted) periodic boundary condition for link-variables. This analytical relation indicates that low-lying Dirac modes have little contribution to the Polyakov loop, and it is numerically confirmed at the quenched level in both confinement and deconfinement phases. This fact indicates no direct on…
We investigate general properties of the eigenvalue spectrum for improved staggered quarks. We introduce a new chirality operator $[γ_5 \otimes 1]$ and a new shift operator $[1 \otimes ξ_5]$, which respect the same recursion relation as the $γ_5$ operator in the continuum. Then we show that matrix elements of the chirality operator sandwiched between two eigenstates of the staggered Dirac operator are related to those of the shift operator by the Ward identity of the conserved $U(1)_A$ symmetry of staggered fermion actions. We perform a numerical study in quenched QCD using HYP staggered quark…
QCD with heavy dynamical quarks exhibits a first order thermal transition which is driven by the spontaneous breaking of the global $\mathcal{Z}_3$ center symmetry. Decreasing the quark masses weakens the transition until the corresponding latent heat vanishes at the critical mass. We explore the heavy mass region with three flavors of staggered quarks and analyze the Polyakov loop and its moments in a finite volume scaling study. We calculate the heavy critical mass in the three flavor theory in the infinite volume limit for $N_t=8$.
We calculate the Polyakov loop susceptibilities in the SU(3) lattice gauge theory using the Symanzik improved gauge action on different-sized lattices. The longitudinal and transverse fluctu- ations of the Polyakov loop, as well as, that of its absolute value are considered. We analyze their properties in relation to the confinement-deconfinement phase transition. We also present results based on simulations of (2+1)-flavor QCD on 32^3 x 8 lattice using Highly Improved Staggered Quark (HISQ) action by the HotQCD collaboration. The influences of fermions on the Polyakov loop fluctuations are di…
Recently, random matrix theory predictions for the distribution of low-lying Dirac operator eigenvalues have been extended to include lattice effects for both staggered and Wilson fermions. We computed low-lying eigenvalues for the Hermitian Wilson-Dirac operator and for improved staggered fermions on several quenched ensembles with size $\approx 1.5$ fm. Comparisons to the expectations from RMT with lattice effects included are made. Wilson RMT describes our Wilson data nicely. For improved staggered fermions we find strong indications that taste breaking effects on the low-lying spectrum dis…
We investigate chiral and deconfinement transitions in the strong coupling lattice QCD for color SU(3). We combine the leading order Polyakov loop effective action of the strong coupling expansion and the next-to-next-to-leading order (1/g^4) fermionic effective action with one species of unrooted staggered fermion. Two approximation schemes are adopted to evaluate the Polyakov loop effects; a Haar measure method (no fluctuation from the mean field) and a Weiss mean-field method (with fluctuations). The Polyakov loop is found to suppress the chiral condensate and to reduce the chiral transitio…
We present a random matrix theory (RMT) for the staggered lattice QCD Dirac operator. The staggered RMT is equivalent to the zero-momentum limit of the staggered chiral Lagrangian and includes all taste breaking terms at their leading order. This is an extension of previous work which only included some of the taste breaking terms. We will also present some results for the taste breaking contributions to the partition function and the Dirac eigenvalues.
