O(N) universality and the chiral phase transition in QCD
Frithjof Karsch
备注:
6 pages, 6 EPS-files; talk presented at the International Workshop 'New Frontiers in QCD 2010' at the Yukawa Institute for Theoretical Physics, Kyoto, Japan, March 1-19
We discuss universal scaling properties of (2+1)-flavor QCD in the vicinity of the chiral phase transition at vanishing as well as non-vanishing light quark chemical potential (mu_l). We provide evidence for O(N) scaling of the chiral order parameter in (2+1)-flavor QCD and show that the scaling analysis of its derivative with respect to the light quark chemical potential provides a unique approach to the determination of the curvature of the chiral phase transition line in the vicinity of mu_l/T=0.
We show the universality of phase diagrams in QCD and QCD-like theories through the large-N_c equivalence. The whole phase diagrams are identical between QCD at finite isospin chemical potential and SO(2N_c) and Sp(2N_c) gauge theories at finite baryon chemical potential. In the chiral limit, they are also identical to that of QCD at finite chiral chemical potential. Outside the pion or diquark condensed phase in these theories, the universality of phase diagrams is applicable to QCD at finite baryon chemical potential. We further argue that the universality may work approximately even for N_c…
The 3D Yukawa model with U(1) chiral symmetry is investigated in a broad interval of parameters using the Binder method. Critical exponents of the Wilson-Fisher (magnetic) and Gross-Neveu (chiral) universality classes are measured. The model is dominated by the chiral universality class. However at weak coupling we observe a crossover between both classes, manifested by difficulties with the Binder method which otherwise works well.
We use our lattice QCD computation of the $B_c\rightarrow J/ψ$ form factors to determine the differential decay rate for the semitauonic decay channel and construct the ratio of branching fractions $R(J/ψ) = \mathcal{B}(B_c^- \rightarrow J/ψτ^-\barν_τ)/\mathcal{B}(B_c^- \rightarrow J/ψμ^-\barν_μ)$. We find $R(J/ψ) = 0.2582(38)$ and give an error budget. We also extend the relevant angular observables, which were recently suggested for the study of lepton flavor universality violating effects in $B\rightarrow D^*\ellν$, to $B_c \rightarrow J/ψ\ellν$ and make predictions for their values under d…
We argue that the whole or the part of the phase diagrams of QCD and QCD-like theories should be universal in the large-N_c limit through the orbifold equivalence. The whole phase diagrams, including the chiral phase transitions and the BEC-BCS crossover regions, are identical between SU(N_c) QCD at finite isospin chemical potential and SO(2N_c) and Sp(2N_c) gauge theories at finite baryon chemical potential. Outside the BEC-BCS crossover region in these theories, the phase diagrams are also identical to that of SU(N_c) QCD at finite baryon chemical potential. We give examples of the universal…
We determine the critical equation of state of the three-dimensional O(4) universality class. We first consider the small-field expansion of the effective potential (Helmholtz free energy). Then, we apply a systematic approximation scheme based on polynomial parametric representations that are valid in the whole critical regime, satisfy the correct analytic properties (Griffiths' analyticity), take into account the Goldstone singularities at the coexistence curve, and match the small-field expansion of the effective potential. From the approximate representations of the equation of state, we o…
QCD with a finite baryon chemical potential, despite its importance, is not well understood because the standard lattice QCD simulation is not applicable due to the sign problem. Although sign-free QCD-like theories have been studied intensively, relation to QCD with a finite baryon chemical potential was not clear until recently. In this talk we explain the large-Nc equivalences between QCD and various QCD-like theories, which lead us to a unified viewpoint for QCD with baryon and isospin chemical potentials, SO(2Nc) and Sp(2Nc) gauge theories. In particular two-flavor QCD with the baryon che…
Chiral symmetry restoration high in the hadron spectra is expected but it remains to be confirmed both in lattice QCD computations and in experiments. Recently, a theorem was derived, relating chiral symmetry restoration high in the hadron spectra to the spontaneous generation of the dynamical quark mass in QCD. We refine the theorem in the case of static-light mesons. Utilizing chiral quark model computations and lattice QCD results for the spectrum of mesons composed by a static antiquark and a light quark, we explore chiral symmetry restoration in the spectrum and the quark running mass m(k…
Recent lattice QCD calculations strongly indicate that the chiral crossover of QCD at zero baryon chemical potential μ_B is a remnant of the second-order chiral phase transition. Universal properties of this second-order phase transition can be mapped to QCD temperature T and μ_B using non-universal parameters determined by lattice QCD recently. Motivated by these results, first, we discuss the analytic structure of the partition function in the QCD crossover regime - the so-called Yang-Lee edge singularity - solely based on universal properties. Next, utilizing the lattice QCD results for non…
We discuss chiral and deconfinement aspects of the finite temperature transition in QCD using improved staggered actions. We study different quantities related to chiral and deconfinement transition and discuss their cutoff dependence. Contrary to some earlier lattice results we find that the chiral and deconfinement transition are not closely interconnected.
We simulate four flavor noncompact lattice QED using the Hybrid Monte Carlo algorithm on $10^4$ and $16^4$ lattices. Measurements of the monopole susceptibility and the percolation order parameter indicate a transition at $β= {1/e^2} = .205(5)$ with critical behavior in the universality class of four dimensional percolation. We present accurate chiral condensate measurements and monitor finite size effects carefully. The chiral condensate data supports the existence of a power-law transition at $β= .205$ in the same universality class as the chiral transition in the two flavor model. The resul…
The order of the phase transition in finite-temperature QCD with two degenerate light quarks is still an open problem and corresponds to the last question mark in the zero-density phase diagram of QCD. We argue that establishing the nature of the transition in this case is also a crucial test for numerical simulations of lattice QCD, allowing precise estimates of possible systematic errors related e.g. to the choice of fermion-simulation algorithm or of discretized formulation for fermions.
We use a chiral random matrix model with 2N_f flavors to mock up the QCD Dirac spectrum at finite chemical potential. We show that the 1/N approximation breaks down in the quenched state with spontaneously broken chiral symmetry. The breakdown condition is set by the divergence of a two-point function, that is shown to follow the general lore of macroscopic universality. In this state, the fermionic fluctuations are not suppressed in the large N limit.
The finite temperature transition of QCD with two degenerate light quarks is studied on the lattice with a renormalization group improved gauge action and the Wilson quark action. We have made simulations on an $8^3\times 4$ lattice near the chiral transition point. It is shown that the chiral condensate which is the order parameter of chiral symmetry satisfies remarkably a scaling relation with the exponents of the three dimensional O(4) Heisenberg model. This indicates that the chiral transition in two-flavor QCD is of second order in the continuum limit.
We propose that in QCD with dynamical quarks, colour deconfinement occurs when an external field induced by the chiral condensate strongly aligns the Polyakov loop. This effect sets in at the chiral symmetry restoration temperature T-chi and thus makes deconfinement and chiral symmetry restoration coincide. The predicted singular behaviour of Polyakov loop susceptibilities at T-chi is shown to be supported by finite temperature lattice calculations.
The superfluid transition of liquid Helium shares an interesting phenomenon with the chiral limit of QCD: the specific heat is finite at the critical point, but has a cusp. From this follows an interesting mixture of universal and non-universal features at the critical point. Through the CP symmetry of chiral QCD, this has implications for the fourth order baryon number susceptibility and susceptibilities of higher orders. Investigations of such a scaling will show us whether O(4) scaling is an accurate description of baryon-free QCD when the pion mass is realistic.
The quenched approximation for QCD is, at present and in the foreseeable future, unavoidable in lattice calculations with realistic choices of the lattice spacing, volume and quark masses. In these lectures, I review the analytic study of the effects of quenching based on chiral perturbation theory. Quenched chiral perturbation theory leads to quantitative insight into the difference between quenched and unquenched QCD, and reveals clearly diseases which plague quenched QCD. A short review of the ideas underlying chiral perturbation theory is included.
We study the nature of the finite-temperature chiral transition in QCD with N_f light quarks in the fundamental and adjoint representation. Universality and renormalization-group (RG) arguments show that the possibility of having a continuous transition is related to the existence of a stable fixed point (FP) in the RG flow of a 3D Landau-Ginzburg-Wilson Phi^4 theory with the same chiral symmetry-breaking pattern. The RG flow of these theories is studied by field-theoretical approaches, computing and analyzing high-order perturbative series, up to six loops. According to this RG analysis, the …
We prove that lattice QCD generates the axial anomaly in the continuum limit under very general conditions on the lattice action, which includes the case of Ginsparg-Wilson fermions. The ingredients going into the proof are gauge invariance, locality of the Dirac operator, absence of fermion doubling, the general form of the lattice Ward identity, and the power counting theorem of Reisz. The results generalize in an obvious way to SU(N) lattice gauge theories.
We re-analyze data from available finite-temperature QCD simulations near the chiral transition, with the help of Chiral Random Matrix Theory (chRMT). Statistical properties of the lowest-lying eigenvalues of the staggered Dirac operator for SU(3) lattice gauge theory with dynamical fermions are examined. We consider temperatures below, near, and above the critical temperature $T_c$ for the chiral phase transition. Below and above $T_c$ the statistics are in agreement with the exact analytical predictions in the microscopic scaling regime. Above $T_c$ we observe a gap in the spectral density a…
These lectures describe the use of effective field theories to extrapolate results from the parameter region where numerical simulations of lattice QCD are possible to the physical parameters (physical quark masses, infinite volume, vanishing lattice spacing, etc.). After a brief introduction and overview, I discuss three topics: 1) Chiral perturbation theory in the continuum; 2) The inclusion of discretization effects into chiral perturbation theory, focusing on the application to Wilson and twisted-mass lattice fermions; 3) Extending chiral perturbation theory to describe partially quenched …
The chirally rotated Schroedinger functional provides a test bed for universality and automatic O(a) improvement. We here report on extensive quenched simulations of lattice QCD with Wilson quarks in the massless limit. We demonstrate that, after proper tuning of a dimension 3 boundary counterterm, the expected chirally rotated boundary conditions are indeed obtained. This implies automatic O(a) improvement which we then verify in a few examples. Universality of properly renormalized correlation functions is confirmed by comparing to the standard set-up of the Schroedinger functional. As a by-…
Large-N expansions and computer simulations indicate that the universality class of the finite temperature chiral symmetry restoration transition in the 3D Gross-Neveu model is mean field theory. This is a counterexample to the standard 'sigma model' scenario which predicts the 2D Ising model universality class. We trace the breakdown of the standard scenario (dimensional reduction and universality) to the absence of canonical scalar fields in the model. We point out that our results could be generic for theories with dynamical symmetry breaking, such as Quantum Chromodynamics.
We study the Anderson-type transition previously found in the spectrum of the QCD quark Dirac operator in the high temperature, quark-gluon plasma phase. Using finite size scaling for the unfolded level spacing distribution, we show that in the thermodynamic limit there is a genuine mobility edge, where the spectral statistics changes from Poisson to Wigner-Dyson statistics in a non-analytic way. We determine the correlation length critical exponent, $ν$, and find that it is compatible with that of the unitary Anderson model.
We perform a first lattice QCD simulation including two-flavor dynamical fermion with a chiral chemical potential. Because the chiral chemical potential gives rise to no sign problem, we can exactly analyze a chirally imbalanced QCD matter by the Monte Carlo simulation. By applying an external magnetic field to this system, we obtain a finite induced current along the magnetic field, which corresponds to the chiral magnetic effect. The obtained induced current is proportional to the magnetic field and to the chiral chemical potential, which is consistent with an analytical prediction.
We derive an exact formula for the stochastic evolution of the characteristic determinant of a class of deformed Wishart matrices following from a chiral random matrix model of QCD at finite chemical potential. In the WKB approximation, the characteristic determinant describes a sharp droplet of eigenvalues that deforms and expands at large stochastic times. Beyond the WKB limit, the edges of the droplet are fuzzy and described by universal edge functions. At the chiral point, the characteristic determinant in the microscopic limit is universal. Remarkably, the physical chiral condensate at fi…
The universality of the QCD equation of state near the critical point is expressed by mapping pressure as a function of temperature $T$ and baryon chemical potential $μ$ in QCD to Gibbs free energy as a function of reduced temperature $r$ and magnetic field $h$ in the Ising model. The mapping parameters are, in general, not universal, i.e., determined by details of the microscopic dynamics, rather than by symmetries and long-distance dynamics. In this paper we point out that in the limit of small quark masses, when the critical point is close to the tricritical point, the mapping parameters sh…
We compute the QCD phase diagram in the plane of the chiral chemical potential and temperature using the linear sigma model coupled to quarks and to the Polyakov loop. The chiral chemical potential accounts for effects of imbalanced chirality due to QCD sphaleron transitions which may emerge in heavy-ion collisions. We found three effects caused by the chiral chemical potential: the imbalanced chirality (i) tightens the link between deconfinement and chiral phase transitions; (ii) lowers the common critical temperature; (iii) strengthens the order of the phase transition by converting the cros…
Relatively low crossover temperature suggests that chiral symmetry restoration in QCD may well be described within the low-energy effective theory. The shape of the pseudocritical line in the T-mu plane is estimated within this assumption. No critical endpoint is found for physical values of quark masses.
Using the recently proposed generalization to an arbitrary number of colors of the strong coupling approach to lattice gauge theories\cite{Grignani:2003uv}, we compute the chiral condensate of massless QCD in the 't Hooft limit.
We discuss spontaneous chiral symmetry breaking and quark bilinear condensate in large $N_c$ QCD. It has been known that the existence of $η'$ meson is implied in large $N_c$ QCD as pointed out by Witten and Veneziano. First, we show that the existence of $η'$ and Ward-Takahashi identities imply the existence of the Nambu-Goldstone bosons from chiral symmetry breaking $SU(N_f)_L \times SU(N_f)_R \to SU(N_f)_V$. Second, we show that a QCD inequality implies a nonzero lower bound on the quark bilinear condensate.
As an extension of $QCD$, consider a theory with ``$2+1$'' flavors, where the current quark masses are held in a fixed ratio as the overall scale of the quark masses is varied. At nonzero temperature and baryon density it is expected that in the chiral limit the chiral phase transition is of first order. Increasing the quark mass from zero, the chiral transition becomes more weakly first order, and can end in a chiral critical point. We show that the only massless field at the chiral critical point is a sigma meson, with the universality class that of the Ising model. Present day lattice simul…
A simplified test of universality in Lattice QCD is performed by analytically evaluating the continuous Euclidean time limits of various lattice fermion determinants, both with and without a Wilson term to lift the fermion doubling on the Euclidean time axis, and comparing them with each other and with the zeta-regularised fermion determinant in the continuous time--lattice space setting. The determinant relations expected from universality considerations are found to be violated by a certain gauge field-dependent factor, i.e. we uncover a "universality anomaly". The physical significance, or …
We use the recently proposed directed-path algorithm to study the chiral limit of strongly coupled lattice QCD with staggered quarks at finite temperatures. The new algorithm allows us to compute the chiral susceptibility and the pion decay constant accurately on large lattices for massless quarks. In the low temperature phase we find clear evidence for the singularities predicted by chiral perturbation theory. We also show convincingly that the chiral phase transition is of second order and belongs to the O(2) universality class.
I review recent progress achieved on the lattice in the quantitative comprehension of chiral symmetry breaking in QCD. Emphasis is given to the recent precise computations of the spectral density of the Dirac operator in the continuum limit, and of the topological susceptibility.
We propose that in QCD with dynamical quarks, colour deconfinement occurs when an external field induced by the chiral condensate strongly aligns the Polyakov loop. This effect sets in at the chiral symmetry restoration temperature $T_χ$ and thus makes deconfinement and chiral symmetry restoration coincide. The predicted singular behavior of Polyakov loop susceptibilities at $T_χ$ is shown to be supported by finite temperature lattice calculations.
In non-Hermitian random matrix theory there are three universality classes for local spectral correlations: the Ginibre class and the nonstandard classes $\mathrm{AI}^\dagger$ and $\mathrm{AII}^\dagger$. We show that the continuum Dirac operator in two-color QCD coupled to a chiral $\mathrm{U}(1)$ gauge field or an imaginary chiral chemical potential falls in class $\mathrm{AI}^\dagger$ ($\mathrm{AII}^\dagger$) for fermions in pseudoreal (real) representations of $\mathrm{SU}(2)$. We introduce the corresponding chiral random matrix theories and verify our predictions in lattice simulations wit…
Chiral chemical potential does not cause the sign problem in the Monte Carlo simulation of lattice QCD. Using the chiral chemical potential, we study the chiral magnetic effect in two-flavor full QCD. We show that a strong external magnetic field induces an electric current in a chirally imbalanced QCD matter. The qualitative feature of the induced current is consistent with an analytical prediction.
We analyze the chiral phase transition with the help of the QCD gap equation. Various models for the effective interaction in rainbow truncation are contrasted with regard to the resulting chiral transition temperatures. In particular, we investigate possible systematic relations of the details of the effective interaction and the value of T_c. In addition, we quantify changes to the transition temperature beyond the rainbow truncation.
The use of the absolute measure of local chirality is championed since it has a uniform distribution for randomly reshuffled chiral components so that any deviations from uniformity in the associated "X-distribution" are directly attributable to QCD-induced dynamics. We observe a transition in the qualitative behavior of this absolute X-distribution of low-lying eigenmodes which, we propose, defines a chiral polarization scale of the QCD vacuum.
We describe a 4D U(1) lattice gauge theory with charged scalar $ϕ$ and fermion $χ$ matter fields ($χU ϕ$ model). At sufficiently strong gauge coupling, the chiral symmetry is broken and the mass of the unconfined composite fermion $F = \barχ ϕ$ is generated dynamically by gauge interaction. The scalar supresses this symmetry breaking and induces a line of second order transitions with scaling properties similar to the Nambu--Jona-Lasinio model. However, in the vicinity of a particular, tricritical point the scaling properties are different. Here we study the effective Yukawa coupling between t…
A chiral invariant effective action for lattice QCD is proposed. Its connection to the multifermion model is established. A possibility of using this action for computer simulations is discussed.
The QCD phase transition is studied on 32^3x8 quenched lattices. One expects from simple arguments that the quenched chiral condensate should diverge as the chiral limit is approached. Previous studies have not been able to observe this behavior, perhaps due to relatively large lattice spacings used. The topic is revisited here on N_t=8 lattices, where the physical spacing is approximately 2(Gev^-1).
In our work we extend the ideas of the derivation of the chiral effective theory from the lattice QCD [1] to the case of the random lattice regularization of QCD. Such procedure allows in principle to find contribution of any order into the chiral effective lagrangian. It is shown that an infinite subseries of the chiral perturbation can be summed up into tne Born-Infeld term and the logarithmic correction to them.
One of the most challenging issues in QCD is the investigation of spontaneous chiral-symmetry breaking, which is characterized by the non-vanishing chiral condensate when the bare fermion mass is zero. In standard methods, one has to perform expensive lattice simulations at multiple bare quark masses, and employ some modeled function to extrapolate the data to the chiral limit. This paper applies the probability distribution function method to computing the chiral condensate in lattice QCD with massless dynamical quarks, without any ambiguous mass extrapolation. The results for staggered quark…
Continuum reduction in large N QCD enables one to extract physical quantities in the $N\to\infty$ limit of QCD by working in small physics volumes. The computation of chiral condensate is an example of such a calculation.
The structure of generalized parton distributions is determined from light-front holographic QCD up to a universal reparametrization function $w(x)$ which incorporates Regge behavior at small $x$ and inclusive counting rules at $x \to 1$. A simple ansatz for $w(x)$ which fulfills these physics constraints with a single-parameter results in precise descriptions of both the nucleon and the pion quark distribution functions in comparison with global fits. The analytic structure of the amplitudes leads to a connection with the Veneziano model and hence to a nontrivial connection with Regge theory …
Chiral symmetry breaking is calculated as a function of cooling in quenched lattice QCD. A non-zero signal is found for the chiral condensate beyond one hundred cooling steps, suggesting that there is chiral symmetry breaking associated with instantons. Quantitatively, the chiral condensate in cooled gauge field configurations is small compared to the value without cooling.
I explain the concept that light quarks diffuse in the QCD vacuum following the spontaneous breakdown of chiral symmetry. I exploit the striking analogy to disordered electrons in metals, identifying, among others, the universal regime described by random matrix theory, diffusive regime described by chiral perturbation theory and the crossover between these two domains.
Several lattice calculations which probe the chiral and topological structure of QCD are discussed. The results focus attention on the low-lying eigenmodes of the Dirac operator in typical gauge field configurations.
The O(a^2) contributions to the chiral effective Lagrangian for lattice QCD with Wilson fermions are constructed. The results are generalized to partially quenched QCD with Wilson fermions as well as to the "mixed'' lattice theory with Wilson sea quarks and Ginsparg-Wilson valence quarks.
We use a cluster algorithm to study the critical behavior of strongly coupled lattice QCD in the chiral limit. We show that the finite temperature chiral phase transition belongs to the O(2) universality class as expected. When we compute the finite size effects of the chiral susceptibility in the low temperature phase close to the transition, we find clear evidence for chiral singularities predicted by chiral perturbation theory (ChPT). On the other hand it is difficult to reconcile the quark mass dependence of various quantities near the chiral limit with ChPT.
The chiral magnetic effect (CME) is an exact statement that connects via the axial anomaly the electric current in a system consisting of interacting fermions and gauge field with chirality imbalance that is put into a strong external magnetic field. Experimental search of the magnetically induced current in QCD in heavy ion collisions above a pseudocritical temperature hints, though not yet conclusive, that the induced current is either small or vanishing. This would imply that the chirality imbalance in QCD above $T_c$ that could be generated via topological fluctuations is at most very smal…
We evaluate the pion_0 into two gammas decay amplitude by an effective action derived from QCD in the quark composites approach, getting the standard value. We also verify that our effective action correctly reproduces the chiral anomaly.
We present the renormalized Taylor expansion of the chiral condensate with chemical potential. The relation with the Taylor coefficients of meson susceptibilities and the quark mass dependence of the quark number susceptibilities are obtained through chiral Ward identities and Maxwell relations. The continuum limit is obtained in quenched and two flavour QCD. In Nf=2 QCD, the quadratic response coefficients (QRCs) of the chiral condensate to chemical potential indicate that pion fluctuations decrease at finite chemical potential toward the critical end point. We discuss how these observables c…
We have simulated lattice QCD with an irrelevant 4-fermion interaction and 2 zero mass quarks. The chiral phase transition is observed to be second order and we discuss extraction of critical exponents.
It has recently been found that dynamics of pure glue QCD supports the low energy band of Dirac modes with local chiral properties qualitatively different from that of a bulk: while bulk modes suppress chirality relative to statistical independence between left and right, the band modes enhance it. The width of such chirally polarized zone - chiral polarization scale Lambda_ch - has been shown to be finite in the continuum limit at fixed physical volume. Here we present evidence that Lambda_ch remains non-zero also in the infinite volume, and is therefore a dynamical scale in the theory. Our e…
In this paper we report on lattice simulations of SU(3)-QCD with non-zero chiral chemical potential. We focus on the influence of the chiral chemical potential on the confinement/deconfinement phase transition and the breaking/restoration of chiral symmetry. The simulation is carried out with dynamical Wilson fermions. We find that the critical temperature rises as the chiral chemical potential grows.
We calculate one-loop correction to the axial charges of the octet baryons using quenched chiral perturbation theory, in order to understand chiral behavior of the axial charges in quenched approximation to quantum chromodynamics (QCD). In contrast to regular behavior of the full QCD chiral perturbation theory result, $c_0+c_{l2}m_π^2\,\ln{m_π^2}+\cdots$, we find that the quenched chiral perturbation theory result, $c_0^Q+(c_{l0}^Q+c_{l2}^Qm_π^2)\ln{m_π^2}+c_2^Q m_π^2+\cdots$, is singular in the chiral limit.
We study the difficulties associated with detecting chiral singularities in strongly coupled lattice QCD at fixed nonzero tempearture. We show that the behavior of the chiral condensate, the pion mass and the pion decay constant, for small masses, are all consistent with the predictions of Chiral Perturbation Theory. However, the values of the quark masses that we need to demonstrate this are much smaller than those being used in dynamical QCD simulations.