7 pages, 6 figures, Contribution to the 34th International Symposium on Lattice Field Theory, 24-30 July 2016, University of Southampton, UK. Corrected plot in Fig. 6
We present new results from our ongoing study of the SU(3) sextet model with two flavors in the two-index symmetric representation of the gauge group. In the simulations use unimproved Wilson fermions to investigate the infrared properties of the model. We have previously presented results for the spectrum of the model in the weak coupling regime. Here, to better understand the overall behavior of the lattice model, we map its non-trivial phase structure in the space of bare parameters. At strong coupling, we observe a first order phase transition when decreasing the bare quark mass. This first order transition weakens when moving towards weaker couplings with an endpoint at a finite value of the bare coupling, after which it appears to be a continuous transition. We also investigate the behavior of the mass spectrum and scale-setting observable, as a function of the quark mass, and show that their qualitative behavior change significantly when moving from the strong coupling into the weak coupling phase.
We study the SU(3) lattice gauge theory, with two flavors of sextet Wilson-clover fermions, near its finite-temperature phase transition. We find metastable states that have Wilson line expectation values whose complex phases are near 2pi/3 or pi. The true equilibrium phase at these couplings and temperatures has its Wilson line oriented only towards the positive real axis, in agreement with perturbation theory.
We present our final results for the SU(3) sextet model with the non-improved Wilson fermion discretization. We find evidence for several phases of the lattice model, including a bulk phase with broken chiral symmetry. We study the transition between the bulk and weak coupling phase which corresponds to a significant change in the qualitative behavior of spectral and scale setting observables. In particular the t0 and w0 observables seem to diverge in the chiral limit in the weak coupling phase. We then focus on the study of spectral observables in the chiral limit in the weak coupling phase a…
We calculate non-perturbatively the coefficient c_sw required for O(a) improvement of the SU(3) gauge theory with Nf = 2 fermions in the two-index symmetric (sextet) representation. For the calculations we impose the standard improvement condition in the Schrödinger functional framework, using two different discretisations for the gauge field i.e. the Wilson plaquette action and the tree-level improved Symanzik (Lüscher-Weisz) action.
We investigate the spectrum and IR properties of the SU(3) "sextet" model with two Dirac fermions in the two-index symmetric representation via lattice simulations. This model is a prime candidate for a realization of Walking Technicolor, which features a minimal matter content and it is expected to be inside or very close to the lower boundary of the conformal window. We use the Wilson discretization for the fermions and map the phase structure of the lattice model. We study several spectral and gradient flow observables both in the bulk and the weak coupling phases. While in the bulk phase w…
I observe a rough volume-dependent scaling of the low eigenvalues of a chiral Dirac operator in lattice studies of SU(3) lattice gauge theory with two flavors of color sextet fermions, in its weak-coupling phase. The mean value of the ith eigenvalue scales with the simulation volume V=L^4 as <lambda_i>L^p ~zeta_i, where zeta_i is a volume-independent constant. The exponent p is about 1.4. A possible explanation for this phenomenon is that p is the leading relevant exponent associated with the fermion mass dependence of correlation functions in a theory whose zero-mass limit is conformal.
SU(3) gauge theory with overlap fermions in the 2-index symmetric (sextet) and fundamental representations is considered. A priori it is not known what the pattern of chiral symmetry breaking is in a higher dimensional representation although the general expectation is that if two representations are both complex, the breaking pattern will be the same. This expectation is verified for the sextet at N_f = 0 in several exact zero mode sectors. It is shown that if the volume is large enough the same random matrix ensemble describes both the sextet and fundamental Dirac eigenvalues. The number of …
I report the results of Schroedinger functional calculations in the SU(3) gauge theory with two flavors of color sextet fermions, defined with the Wilson-clover action using nHYP fat links. While we cannot confirm the infrared fixed point seen with thin links, we find very slow evolution of the coupling constant, so slow that extraction of the mass anomalous dimension is straightforward.
The SU(3) gauge theory with fermions in the sextet representation is one of several theories of interest for technicolor models. We have carried out a Schrodinger functional (SF) calculation for the lattice theory with two flavors of Wilson fermions. We find that the discrete beta function changes sign when the SF renormalized coupling is in the neighborhood of g^2 = 2.0, showing a breakdown of the perturbative picture even though the coupling is weak. The most straightforward interpretation is an infrared-stable fixed point.
The strongly coupled near-conformal gauge theory with two fermion flavors in the two-index symmetric (sextet) representation of SU(3) is potentially a minimal realization of the composite Higgs mechanism. We discuss the staggered fermion construction of baryonic states, present our first numerical results and comment on implications for dark matter.
We study non-perturbative improvement in SU(3) lattice gauge theory coupled to fermions in the fundamental and two-index symmetric representations. Our lattice action is defined with hypercubic smeared links incorporated into the Wilson-clover fermion kernel. Using standard Schroedinger-functional techniques we estimate the clover coefficient Csw and find that discretization errors are much smaller than in thin-link theories.
SU(3) gauge theory coupled to N_f = 2 fermions in the sextet representation is a promising candidate for a technicolor inspired Standard Model extension. In this note the progress in the past few years aimed at understanding the non-perturbative properties of the model is reviewed. The main difficulties lying ahead in order to make robust conclusions from lattice simulations are outlined.
We report extended simulation results and their new analysis in two important gauge theories with twelve fermion flavors in the fundamental SU(3) color representation and two fermions in the sextet representation. We probe the $N_f=12$ model with respect to the conformal window using mass deformed finite size scaling (FSS) theory driven by the fermion mass anomalous dimension. Our results at fixed gauge coupling show problems with the conformal scenario of the $N_f=12$ model. In the sextet model with two flavors, under the conformal hypothesis, we determine large values for the anomalous fermi…
The observed slow running of the gauge coupling in SU(3) lattice gauge theory with two flavors of color sextet fermions naturally suggests it is a theory with one relevant coupling, the fermion mass, and that at zero mass correlation functions decay algebraically. I perform a finite-size scaling study on simulation data at two values of the bare gauge coupling with this assumption and observe a common exponent for the scaling of the correlation length with the fermion mass, y_m ~ 1.5. An analysis of the scaling of valence Dirac eigenvalues at one of these bare couplings produces a similar numb…
We investigate two models of much recent interest in lattice Beyond Standard Model studies: N_f=2 fermions in the 2-index symmetric (sextet) representation, and N_f=12 fermions in the fundamental representation, both with SU(3) gauge symmetry. We present results at fixed lattice spacing for the static fermion potential and force as measured via lattice simulations. We show indications that both models are confining in the chiral limit and that neither theory is conformal. This is consistent with our findings for the mass spectrum, which indicate that chiral symmetry is spontaneously broken in …
We present new results for the SU(3) "sextet model" with two flavors transforming according to the two-index symmetric representation of the gauge group. The simulations are performed using unimproved Wilson fermions. We measure the meson and baryon spectrum of the theory for multiple bare quark masses at two different lattice spacings. To address the pressing issue of whether the model is inside or below the conformal window, we compare the spectrum to the expectations for a theory with spontaneous chiral symmetry breaking and to those of an IR conformal theory. Regardless of the answer (conf…
We have carried out a Schrodinger functional (SF) calculation for the SU(3) lattice gauge theory with two flavors of Wilson fermions in the sextet representation of the gauge group. We find that the discrete beta function, which governs the change in the running coupling under a discrete change of spatial scale, changes sign when the SF renormalized coupling is in the neighborhood of g^2=2.0. The simplest explanation is that the theory has an infrared-attractive fixed point, but more complicated possibilities are allowed by the data. While we compare rescalings by factors of 2 and 4/3, we work…
We present a first look at the spectroscopy of SU(4) gauge theory coupled to two flavors of Dirac fermions in the two-index antisymmetric representation, which is a real representation. We compute meson and diquark masses, the pseudoscalar and vector meson decay constants, and the masses of six-quark baryons. We make comparisons with large-Nc expectations.
As part of our ongoing lattice study of SU(3) gauge theory with two flavors of fermions in the two-index symmetric representation (the sextet model), we present the current status of the pseudoscalar particle spectrum. We use a mixed action approach based on the gradient flow to control lattice artifacts, allowing a simultaneous extrapolation to the chiral and continuum limits. We find strong evidence that the pseudoscalar is a Goldstone boson state, with spontaneously broken chiral symmetry and a non-zero Goldstone decay constant in the chiral limit. In agreement with our study of the gauge c…
The frequently discussed strongly interacting gauge theory with a fermion flavor doublet in the two-index symmetric (sextet) representation of the SU(3) color gauge group is investigated \cite{Fodor:2012ty}. The chiral condensate and the mass spectrum are consistent with chiral symmetry breaking at vanishing fermion mass. In contrast, sextet fermion mass deformations of spectral properties are not consistent with leading conformal scaling behavior near the critical surface of a conformal theory. A recent paper \cite{DeGrand:2012yq} which could not resolve the conformal fixed point of the gauge…
We report new results for lattice gauge theories with twelve fermion flavors in the fundamental representation and two fermion flavors in the two-index symmetric (sextet) representation of the SU(3) color gauge group. Both models are important in searching for a viable composite Higgs mechanism in the Beyond the Standard Model (BSM) paradigm. We subject both models to opposite hypotheses inside and outside of the conformal window. In the first hypothesis we test chiral symmetry breaking ($χ{\rm SB}$) with its Goldstone spectrum, $F_π$, the $χ{\rm SB}$ condensate, and several composite hadron s…
New results are reported from large scale lattice simulations of a frequently discussed strongly interacting gauge theory with a fermion flavor doublet in the two-index symmetric (sextet) representation of the SU(3) color gauge group. We find that the chiral condensate and the mass spectrum of the sextet model are consistent with chiral symmetry breaking in the limit of vanishing fermion mass. In contrast, sextet fermion mass deformations of spectral properties are not consistent with leading conformal scaling behavior near the critical surface of a conformal theory. A recent paper could not r…
We present a non-perturbative lattice study of SU(4) gauge theory with two flavors of fermions in the fundamental representation and two in the two-index antisymmetric representation: a theory closely related to a minimal partial-compositeness model for physics beyond the Standard Model, that was proposed by G. Ferretti. We discuss the phase structure of the lattice theory and report results for various observables of interest, including the masses of states obtained from different combinations of valence fermions and the spectrum of the Dirac operator. Finally, we comment on the extension of …
As a follow up to the previous talk about the beta function of SU(3) gauge theory with Nf=2 symmetric representation (clover) fermions [arXiv:0809.2885 [hep-lat]], we describe our explorations of the beta-kappa plane, away from the massless limit. Our simulations are mostly done on lattices of length L=8 and 12. We observe a phase transition from a strong coupling confined phase to a deconfined, chirally restored phase. The line of transitions avoids (so far) the location of the infrared fixed point discussed in the last talk.
We discuss near-conformal gauge theories beyond the standard model (BSM) where interesting results on the twelve-flavor $β$-function of massless fermions in the fundamental representation of the SU(3) color gauge group and dilaton tests of the light scalar with two massless fermions in the two-index symmetric tensor (sextet) representation can be viewed as parts of the same BSM paradigm under investigation. We report results from high precision analysis of the twelve-flavor $β$-function \cite{Fodor:2016zil} refuting its published IRFP \cite{Cheng:2014jba,Hasenfratz:2016dou}. We present our obj…
We investigate the discrete $β$ function of the 2-flavor SU(3) sextet model using the finite volume gradient flow scheme. Our results, using clover improved nHYP smeared Wilson fermions, follow the (non-universal) 4-loop $\overline{\textrm{MS}}$ perturbative predictions closely up to $g^2 \approx 5.5$, the strongest coupling reached in our simulation. At strong couplings the results are in tension with a recently published work using the same gradient flow renormalization scheme with staggered fermions. Since these calculations define the discrete $β$ function in the same continuum renormaliza…
QCD with 2 flavours of massless colour-sextet quarks is studied as a theory which might exhibit a range of scales over which the running coupling constant evolves very slowly (walks). We simulate lattice QCD with 2 flavours of sextet staggered quarks to determine whether walks, or if it has an infrared fixed point, making it a conformal field theory. Our initial simulations are performed at finite temperatures $T=1/N_ta$ ($N_t=4$ and $N_t=6$), which allows us to identify the scales of confinement and chiral-symmetry breaking from the deconfinement and chiral-symmetry restoring transitions. Unl…
QCD with two flavours of massless colour-sextet quarks is considered as a model for conformal/walking Technicolor. If this theory possess an infrared fixed point, as indicated by 2-loop perturbation theory, it is a conformal(unparticle) field theory. If, on the other hand, a chiral condensate forms on the weak-coupling side of this would-be fixed point, the theory remains confining. The only difference between such a theory and regular QCD is that there is a range of momentum scales over which the coupling constant runs very slowly (walks). In this first analysis, we simulate the lattice versi…
We extend our previous study of the SU(3) gauge theory with N_f=2 flavors of fermions in the sextet representation of color. Our tool is the Schroedinger functional method. By changing the lattice action, we push the bulk transition of the lattice theory to stronger couplings and thus reveal the beta function and the mass anomalous dimension gamma_m over a wider range of coupling, out to g^2 ~ 11. Our results are consistent with an infrared fixed point, but walking is not ruled out. Our main result is that gamma_m never exceeds 0.45, making the model unsuitable for walking technicolor. We use …
We present preliminary results for the topological charge and susceptibility determined from the low-lying eigenmodes of the Wilson-Dirac operator. These modes have been computed on dynamical configurations with Nf=2 non-perturbatively improved Wilson fermions. We compare our results with the eigenmodes of fermions in the quenched approximation.
We demonstrate that in the topologically trivial gauge sector the Ginsparg-Wilson relation for lattice Dirac operators admits an exactly gauge invariant path integral formulation of the Weyl fermions on a lattice.
Stabilized Wilson fermions are a reformulation of Wilson clover fermions that incorporates several numerical stabilizing techniques, but also a local change of the fermion action - the original clover term being replaced with an exponentiated version of it. We intend to apply the stabilized Wilson fermions toolbox to the thermodynamics of QCD, starting on the $N_f=3$ symmetric line on the Columbia plot, and to compare the results with those obtained with other fermion discretizations.
The improvement of fermionic operators for Ginsparg-Wilson fermions is investigated. We present explicit formulae for improved Green's functions, which apply both on-shell and off-shell.
We show that it is possible to construct a lattice Schroedinger functional for standard Wilson fermions, where the expectation values of ${\cal R}_5$-even operators are O($a$) improved, up to terms coming from the boundaries.
In the simulation of QCD with 2+1 flavors of Wilson fermions, the positivity of the fermion determinant is generally assumed. We present evidence that this assumption is in general not justified and discuss the consequences of this finding.
The coefficient of the O(a)-improved Sheikholeslami-Wohlert action for Wilson fermions are perturbatively determined at one-loop level and estimated at two-loop level.
QCD with 2 flavours of massless colour-sextet quarks is studied as a possible walking-Technicolor candidate. We simulate the lattice version of this model at finite temperatures near to the chiral-symmetry restoration transition, to determine whether it is indeed a walking theory (QCD-like with a running coupling which evolves slowly over an appreciable range of length scales) or if it has an infrared fixed point, making it a conformal field theory. The lattice spacing at this transition is decreased towards zero by increasing the number $N_t$ of lattice sites in the temporal direction. Our si…
We show rigorously that for general Ginsparg-Wilson fermions the dimensions of the geometric eigenspace and of the algebraic one for zero modes agree so that the index theorem on the lattice is not spoiled by unwanted additional terms.
I report on cost estimates and algorithmic performance in simulations using 2 flavours of non-perturbatively O(a) improved Wilson quarks together with the Wilson plaquette action.
We study strong-coupling lattice QCD with staggered-Wilson fermions, with emphasis on discrete symmetries and possibility of their spontaneous breaking. We perform hopping parameter expansion and effective potential analyses in the strong-coupling limit. From gap equations we find nonzero pion condensate in some range of a mass parameter, which indicates existence of the parity-broken phase in lattice QCD with staggered-Wilson fermions. We also find massless pions and PCAC relations around second-order phase boundary. These results suggest that we can take a chiral limit by tuning a mass param…
We discuss the improvement of bilinear fermionic operators for Ginsparg-Wilson fermions. We present explicit formulae for improved Green's functions, which apply both on-shell and off-shell.
Nonzero chemical potential studies with Wilson fermions should avoid the proliferation of flavor-equivalent nucleon states encountered with staggered formulation of fermions. However, conventional wisdom has been that finite baryon density calculations with Wilson fermions will be prohibitively expensive. We demonstrate that the volume method applied to Wilson fermions gives surprisingly stable results on a small number of configurations. It is pointed out that this method may be applied to any local or nonlocal gauge invariant quantity. Some illustrative results for $<\overlineψψ>$ and $< J >…
It was shown recently by I. Horvath that lattice fermions obeying the standard form of the Ginsparg-Wilson relation cannot be ultralocal. However, there are more general forms of the Ginsparg-Wilson relation, which also guarantee the physical properties related to chirality, but which are not covered by Horvath's consideration. Here we present a proof which applies to all Ginsparg-Wilson fermions, demonstrating that they can only be local in the sense of an exponential decay of their couplings, but not ultralocal.
We present a reduction method for Wilson Dirac fermions with non-zero chemical potential which generates a dimensionally reduced fermion matrix. The size of the reduced fermion matrix is independent of the temporal lattice extent and the dependence on the chemical potential is factored out. As a consequence the reduced matrix allows a simple evaluation of the Wilson fermion determinant for any value of the chemical potential and hence the exact projection to the canonical partition functions.
Our work on models with Wilson--Yukawa couplings is reviewed. Conclusions include the failure of such models to produce continuum chiral gauge theories.
In this proceeding contribution we report on the ongoing effort to understand and simulate Wilson twisted mass fermions in the so called epsilon regime.
We study the hadronic spectrum in quenched lattice QCD using an improved Wilson fermion action (Hamber-Wu(1983),Eguchi-Kawamoto(1984)) at $β= 5.7$ and $β=6.0$. We find a systematic reduction of the finite spacing effects compared to the results obtained by using the standard Wilson action.
We test an algebraic algorithm based on the coordinate-space method, evaluating with high accuracy the critical mass for Wilson fermions in lattice QCD at two loops. We test the results by using different types of infrared regularization.
We study the two-dimensional lattice Gross--Neveu model with Wilson twisted mass fermions in order to explore the phase structure in this setup. In particular, we investigate the behaviour of the phase transitions found earlier with standard Wilson fermions as a function of the twisted mass parameter $μ$. We find that qualitatively the dependence of the phase transitions on $μ$ is very similar to the case of lattice QCD.
Expansions of the Wilson determinant in lattice QCD with quarks produce gauge action terms which shift the coupling constant of the fundamental representation plaquette action and induce an adjoint representation plaquette action. We study the magnitude of these induced couplings with two flavors of Wilson fermions. We utilize a microcanonical demon method, which allows us to measure the induced couplings directly from gauge configurations generated by full fermionic simulations.
We analytically investigate the 2-dimensional Gross-Neveu model at finite temperature and density using Wilson fermion action. The relation between the phase structure on the lattice and that in the continuum is clarified.
Using Schroedinger functional techniques, we determine the coefficient of the clover term necessary for non-perturbative O(a) improvement of hypercubic smeared Wilson fermions on a quenched plaquette action background. Unlike for unsmeared Wilson fermions, the resulting clover coefficients are close to the tree-level value even at coarse lattice spacings, indicating the absence of large cutoff effects. A number of exploratory tests are also performed with the improved action.
We present a new staggered discretization of the Dirac operator. In comparison with standard staggered fermions, real and imaginary parts are located in different nodes. Doubling gives only a doublet of Dirac fermions which we propose to interpret as a physical (lepton or quark) doublet. Contrary to usual staggered fermions, we have no exact chiral symmetry but obtain a generalization of the Ginsparg-Wilson relation.
We present recent results for meson screening masses with quenched Wilson fermions above and below the confinement- deconfinement phase transition. The action used in the simulation is the Sheikholeslami Wohlert action. The quark masses are chosen to be in a range going from light quarks up to the mass of the charm quark. These results are compared with zero temperature Wilson and high temperature staggered data.
For QCD with Wilson fermions at isospin chemical potential we study the finite phase transition on an $8^3\times4$ lattice at $κ=0.15$. We use two gauge actions: Wilson action and DBW2 action. Both actions give the same results. The phase diagram is qualitatively similar to the one obtained for QCD at small baryon chemical potential. We also calculate the number density for various isospin chemical potentials.
Vectorial and anomaly free chiral U(1) fermion models on a 2d finite lattice are considered. It is demonstrated both numerically and analytically that introduction of Pauli -- Villars type regularization supresses the symmetry breaking effects caused by the Wilson term.
The flavour singlet axial Ward identity with Osterwalder-Seiler twisted mass Wilson fermion action is studied on a finite lattice, with finite fermion mass and the Wilson parameter r up to 1. Approach to the infinite volume chiral limit and emergence of the anomaly is significantly better than that obtained with O(a) and O(a^2) improved fermion actions. We have shown explicitly that up to O(g^2), parity violating terms cancel in the Ward identity even at finite volume and finite lattice spacing.
We study the phase structure and the chiral limit of $4d$ compact lattice QED with Wilson fermions (both dynamical and quenched). We use the standard Wilson gauge action and also a modified one suppressing lattice artifacts. Different techniques and observables to locate the chiral limit are discussed.
We compute the O(g^2) contribution to the thermodynamic pressure for Wilson fermions in the standard, the twisted mass, and clover improved formulation in lattice perturbation theory, including finite mass effects. We compare the continuum approaches of these discretizations for the massive ideal and interacting gas. In all cases, for N_t \geq 8 cutoff effects of Wilson type fermions are comparable to those of staggered fermions, but asymptotic scaling requires $N_τ>10$.
