Lattice QCD and the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon

The anomalous magnetic moment of the muon, a_mu, has been measured with an overall precision of 540 ppb by the E821 experiment at BNL. Since the publication of this result in 2004 there has been a persistent tension of 3.5 standard deviations with the theoretical prediction of a_mu based on the Standard Model. The uncertainty of the latter is dominated by the effects of the strong interaction, notably the hadronic vacuum polarisation (HVP) and the hadronic light-by-light (HLbL) scattering contributions, which are commonly evaluated using a data-driven approach and hadronic models, respectively. Given that the discrepancy between theory and experiment is currently one of the most intriguing …

Nonperturbative renormalization and O(a) -improvement of the nonsinglet vector current with Nf=2+1 Wilson fermions and tree-level Symanzik improved gauge action

In calculating hadronic contributions to precision observables for tests of the Standard Model in lattice QCD, the electromagnetic current plays a central role. Using a Wilson action with $\mathrm{O}(a)$ improvement in QCD with ${N}_{\mathrm{f}}$ flavors, a counterterm must be added to the vector current in order for its on-shell matrix elements to be $\mathrm{O}(a)$ improved. In addition, the local vector current, which has support on one lattice site, must be renormalized. At $\mathrm{O}(a)$, the breaking of the $\mathrm{SU}({N}_{\mathrm{f}})$ symmetry by the quark mass matrix leads to a mixing between the local currents of different quark flavors. We present a nonperturbative calculation…

Twisted-mass reweighting for O(a) improved Wilson fermions

We test the reweighting of the quark determinant of O(a) improved Wilson fermions in the domain-decomposed hybrid Monte-Carlo algorithm. Specifically, we implement a reweighting in a twisted-mass parameter proposed by Palombi and L\"uscher in $N_{\rm f}=2$ QCD. We find that at equal acceptance rate, the algorithm is significantly more stable on a $32\times64^3$ lattice upon switching on the reweighting parameter. At the same time, the reweighting factor does not fluctuate strongly and hence is under control. At equal statistics, the uncertainty on the pion correlator is comparable to the case of the standard, unreweighted algorithm.

Nucleon isovector charges and twist-2 matrix elements with Nf=2+1 dynamical Wilson quarks

We present results from a lattice QCD study of nucleon matrix elements at vanishing momentum transfer for local and twist-2 isovector operator insertions. Computations are performed on gauge ensembles with nonperturbatively improved ${N}_{f}=2+1$ Wilson fermions, covering four values of the lattice spacing and pion masses down to ${M}_{\ensuremath{\pi}}\ensuremath{\approx}200\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{MeV}$. Several source-sink separations (typically $\ensuremath{\sim}1.0$ to $\ensuremath{\sim}1.5\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{fm}$) allow us to assess excited-state contamination. Results on individual ensembles are obtained from simultaneous two-state fits across all observables and all available sou…

Lattice calculation of the pion transition form factor $\pi^0 \to \gamma^* \gamma^*$

We calculate the $\pi^0\to \gamma^*\gamma^*$ transition form factor ${\cal F}_{\pi^0\gamma^*\gamma^*}(q_1^2,q_2^2)$ in lattice QCD with two flavors of quarks. Our main motivation is to provide the input to calculate the $\pi^0$-pole contribution to hadronic light-by-light scattering in the muon $(g-2)$, $a_\mu^{\rm HLbL;\pi^0}$. We therefore focus on the region where both photons are spacelike up to virtualities of about $1.5~$GeV$^2$, which has so far not been experimentally accessible. Results are obtained in the continuum at the physical pion mass by a combined extrapolation. We reproduce the prediction of the chiral anomaly for real photons with an accuracy of about $8-9\%$. We also com…

The hadronic contribution to the running of the electromagnetic coupling and the electroweak mixing angle

37th International Symposium on Lattice Field Theory, Wuhan, China, 16 Jun 2019 - 22 Jun 2019; PoS(LATTICE 2019)010 (2019).

Nucleon average quark momentum fraction with Nf = 2+1 Wilson fermions

We report on an analysis of the average quark momentum fraction of the nucleon and related quantities using Nf = 2 + 1 Wilson fermions. Computations are performed on four CLS ensembles covering three values of the lattice spacing at pion masses down to Mπ ≈ 200 MeV. Several source-sink separations (~ 1:0 fm to ~ 1:4 fm) are used to assess the excited-state contamination. To gain further insight, the generalized pencil-of-functions approach has been implemented to reduce the excited-state contamination in the relevant two-and three-point functions. Preliminary results are shown for the isovector nucleon charges from vector, axial vector and tensor derivative (twist-2) operators.

Chiral dynamics in the low-temperature phase of QCD

We investigate the low-temperature phase of QCD and the crossover region with two light flavors of quarks. The chiral expansion around the point $(T,m=0)$ in the temperature vs. quark-mass plane indicates that a sharp real-time excitation exists with the quantum numbers of the pion. An exact sum rule is derived for the thermal modification of the spectral function associated with the axial charge density; the (dominant) pion pole contribution obeys the sum rule. We determine the two parameters of the pion dispersion relation using lattice QCD simulations and test the applicability of the chiral expansion. The time-dependent correlators are also analyzed using the Maximum Entropy Method, yie…

Nonperturbative renormalization and O(a)-improvement of the nonsinglet vector current with Nf=2+1 Wilson fermions and tree-level Symanzik improved gauge action

In calculating hadronic contributions to precision observables for tests of the Standard Model in lattice QCD, the electromagnetic current plays a central role. Using a Wilson action with O(a) improvement in QCD with Nf flavors, a counterterm must be added to the vector current in order for its on-shell matrix elements to be O(a) improved. In addition, the local vector current, which has support on one lattice site, must be renormalized. At O(a), the breaking of the SU(Nf) symmetry by the quark mass matrix leads to a mixing between the local currents of different quark flavors. We present a nonperturbative calculation of all the required improvement and renormalization constants needed for …

Euclidean correlators at imaginary spatial momentum and their relation to the thermal photon emission rate

The photon emission rate of a thermally equilibrated system is determined by the imaginary part of the in-medium retarded correlator of the electromagnetic current transverse to the spatial momentum of the photon. In a Lorentz-covariant theory, this correlator can be parametrized by a scalar function ${\cal G}_R(u\cdot {\cal K},{\cal K}^2)$, where $u$ is the fluid four-velocity and ${\cal K}$ corresponds to the momentum of the photon. We propose to compute the analytic continuation of ${\cal G}_R(u\cdot {\cal K},{\cal K}^2)$ at fixed, vanishing virtuality ${\cal K}^2$, to imaginary values of the first argument, $u\cdot {\cal K}= i\omega_n$. At these kinematics, the retarded correlator is eq…

Nucleon isovector charges and twist-2 matrix elements with Nf=2+1 dynamical Wilson quarks

We present results from a lattice QCD study of nucleon matrix elements at vanishing momentum transfer for local and twist-2 isovector operator insertions. Computations are performed on gauge ensembles with nonperturbatively improved Nf=2+1 Wilson fermions, covering four values of the lattice spacing and pion masses down to Mπ≈200 MeV. Several source-sink separations (typically ∼1.0 to ∼1.5 fm) allow us to assess excited-state contamination. Results on individual ensembles are obtained from simultaneous two-state fits across all observables and all available source-sink separations with the energy gap as a common fit parameter. Renormalization has been performed nonperturbatively using the R…

Study of the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon computed from the Adler function

We compute the Adler function on the lattice from vacuum polarization data with twisted boundary conditions using numerical derivatives. The study is based on CLS ensembles with two flavours of $O(a)$ improved Wilson fermions. We extrapolate the lattice data for the Adler function to the continuum limit and to the physical pion mass and analyze its dependence on the momentum transfer. We discuss the application of this method to the extraction of the $u,d$ contribution to $a_\mu^{\mathrm{HLO}}$.

Non-perturbative renormalization and O$(a)$-improvement of the non-singlet vector current with $N_{\mathrm{f}}=2+1$ Wilson fermions and tree-level Symanzik improved gauge action

In calculating hadronic contributions to precision observables for tests of the Standard Model in lattice QCD, the electromagnetic current plays a central role. Using a Wilson action with O($a$) improvement in QCD with $N_{\mathrm{f}}$ flavors, a counterterm must be added to the vector current in order for its on-shell matrix elements to be O($a$) improved. In addition, the local vector current, which has support on one lattice site, must be renormalized. At O($a$), the breaking of the SU($N_{\mathrm{f}}$) symmetry by the quark mass matrix leads to a mixing between the local currents of different quark flavors. We present a non-perturbative calculation of all the required improvement and re…

Aspects of chiral symmetry in QCD at T = 128 MeV

We investigate several aspects of chiral symmetry in QCD at a temperature of $T = 128\,\text{MeV}$. The study is based on a $24\times 96^3$ lattice-QCD ensemble with O($a$)-improved Wilson quarks and physical up, down and strange quark masses. The pion quasiparticle turns out to be significantly lighter than the zero-temperature pion mass, even though the corresponding static correlation length is shorter. We perform a quantitative comparison of our findings to predictions of chiral perturbation theory. Among several order parameters for chiral symmetry restoration, we compute the difference of the vector- and axial-vector time-dependent correlators and find it to be reduced by a factor $\s…

Thermal field theories and shifted boundary Conditions

The analytic continuation to an imaginary velocity of the canonical partition function of a thermal system expressed in a moving frame has a natural implementation in the Euclidean path-integral formulation in terms of shifted boundary conditions. The Poincare' invariance underlying a relativistic theory implies a dependence of the free-energy on the compact length L_0 and the shift xi only through the combination beta=L_0(1+xi^2)^(1/2). This in turn implies that the energy and the momentum distributions of the thermal theory are related, a fact which is encoded in a set of Ward identities among the correlators of the energy-momentum tensor. The latter have interesting applications in latti…

Hadronic light-by-light scattering contribution to the muon $g-2$ on the lattice

International Workshop on “Flavour Changing and Conserving Processes, FCCP2017, Anacapri, Italy, 7 Sep 2017 - 9 Sep 2017; The European physical journal / Web of Conferences 179, 01017 (2018). doi:10.1051/epjconf/201817901017

Moments of GPDs and transverse-momentum dependent PDFs from the lattice

I review lattice-QCD calculations of the electromagnetic and generalized form factors (GFFs), which determine the transverse structure of the nucleon, and briefly comment on recent calculations related to transverse-momentum dependent parton distribution functions (TMDPDFs).

Coordinate-space calculation of the window observable for the hadronic vacuum polarization contribution to ( g − 2 ) μ

Lattice QCD for Nuclear Physics

Lattice QCD: a Brief Introduction.- Lattice Methods for Hadron Spectroscopy.- Hadron Structure on the Lattice.- Chiral Perturbation Theory.- Nuclear Physics From Lattice QCD.- High Temperature and Density in Lattice QCD.- References.

π 0 decay precision-tests the chiral anomaly

More precise neutral pion lifetime measurements probe quantum symmetry breaking

Lattice calculation of the pion transition form factor with Nf=2+1 Wilson quarks

We present a lattice QCD calculation of the double-virtual neutral pion transition form factor, with the goal to cover the kinematic range relevant to hadronic light-by-light scattering in the muon g−2. Several improvements have been made compared to our previous work. First, we take into account the effects of the strange quark by using the Nf=2+1 coordinated lattice simulation gauge ensembles. Second, we have implemented the on-shell O(a) improvement of the vector current to reduce the discretization effects associated with Wilson quarks. Finally, in order to have access to a wider range of photon virtualities, we have computed the transition form factor in a moving frame as well as in th…

Testing the strength of the UA(1) anomaly at the chiral phase transition in two-flavour QCD

We study the thermal transition of QCD with two degenerate light flavours by lattice simulations using $\mathcal{O}(a)$-improved Wilson quarks. Particular emphasis lies on the pattern of chiral symmetry restoration, which we probe via the static screening correlators. On $32^3$ volumes we observe that the screening masses in transverse iso-vector vector and axial-vector channels become degenerate at the transition temperature. The splitting between the screening masses in iso-vector scalar and pseudoscalar channels is strongly reduced compared to the splitting at zero temperature and is actually consistent with zero within uncertainties. In this proceedings article we extend our studies to …

Position-space approach to hadronic light-by-light scattering in the muon $g-2$ on the lattice

The anomalous magnetic moment of the muon currently exhibits a discrepancy of about three standard deviations between the experimental value and recent Standard Model predictions. The theoretical uncertainty is dominated by the hadronic vacuum polarization and the hadronic light-by-light (HLbL) scattering contributions, where the latter has so far only been fully evaluated using different models. To pave the way for a lattice calculation of HLbL, we present an expression for the HLbL contribution to $g-2$ that involves a multidimensional integral over a position-space QED kernel function in the continuum and a lattice QCD four-point correlator. We describe our semi-analytic calculation of t…

The errant life of a heavy quark in the quark–gluon plasma

In the high-temperature phase of QCD, the heavy-quark momentum diffusion constant determines, via a fluctuation–dissipation relation, how fast a heavy quark kinetically equilibrates. This transport coefficient can be extracted from thermal correlators via a Kubo formula. We present a lattice calculation of the relevant Euclidean correlators in the gluon plasma, based on a recent formulation of the problem in heavy-quark effective field theory (HQET). We find a ≈20% enhancement of the Euclidean correlator at maximal time separation as the temperature is lowered from 6Tc to 2Tc, pointing to stronger interactions at lower temperatures. At the same time, the correlator becomes flatter from 6Tc …

Vector correlator and scale determination in lattice QCD

We implement a proposal made in [arXiv:1107.4388] to determine the lattice spacing by matching the lattice vector correlator at a reference distance scale with the same correlator obtained by a dispersion relation based on the $R$-ratio determined experimentally. We work with the isovector current, requiring a separation of the isovector hadronic final states on the phenomenological side. We also discuss the finite-size effect on the correlator, which must be controlled in order for the method to be applicable.

Photon and dilepton production rate in the quark-gluon plasma from lattice QCD

The photon emissivity of the quark-gluon plasma (QGP) is an important input to predict the photon yield in heavy-ion collisions, particularly for transverse momenta in the range of 1 to 2 GeV. Photon production in the QGP can be probed non-perturbatively in lattice QCD via (Euclidean) time-dependent correlators. Analyzing the spatially transverse channel, as well as the difference of the transverse and longitudinal channels as a consistency check, we determine the photon emissivity based on continuum-extrapolated correlators in two-flavour QCD. Estimates of the lepton-pair production rate can be derived by combining the two aforementioned channels. © Copyright owned by the author(s) under t…

Lattice calculation of the pion transition form factor with Nf=2+1 Wilson quarks

We present a lattice QCD calculation of the double-virtual neutral pion transition form factor, with the goal to cover the kinematic range relevant to hadronic light-by-light scattering in the muon $g\ensuremath{-}2$. Several improvements have been made compared to our previous work. First, we take into account the effects of the strange quark by using the ${N}_{f}=2+1$ coordinated lattice simulation gauge ensembles. Second, we have implemented the on-shell $\mathcal{O}(a)$ improvement of the vector current to reduce the discretization effects associated with Wilson quarks. Finally, in order to have access to a wider range of photon virtualities, we have computed the transition form factor …

Photon emissivity of the quark-gluon plasma: A lattice QCD analysis of the transverse channel

We present results for the thermal photon emissivity of the quark-gluon plasma derived from spatially transverse vector correlators computed in lattice QCD at a temperature of 250 MeV. The analysis of the spectral functions, performed at fixed spatial momentum, is based on continuum-extrapolated correlators obtained with two flavours of dynamical Wilson fermions. We compare the next-to-leading order perturbative QCD correlators, as well as the ${\cal N}=4$ supersymmetric Yang-Mills correlators at infinite coupling, to the correlators from lattice QCD and find them to lie within $\sim10\%$ of each other. We then refine the comparison, performing it at the level of filtered spectral functions…

The leading hadronic contribution to the running of the Weinberg angle using covariant coordinate-space methods

We present a preliminary study of the leading hadronic contribution to the running of the Weinberg angle $\theta_{\mathrm{W}}$. The running is extracted from the correlation function of the electromagnetic current with the vector part of the weak neutral current using both the standard time-momentum representation method and the Lorentz-covariant coordinate-space method recently introduced by Meyer. Both connected and disconnected contributions have been computed on $N_{\mathrm{f}}=2+1$ non-perturbatively $O(a)$-improved Wilson fermions configurations from the CLS initiative. Similar covariant coordinate-space methods can be used to compute the leading hadronic contribution to the anomalous…

Hadronic light-by-light contribution to $(g-2)_\mu$ from lattice QCD with SU(3) flavor symmetry

We perform a lattice QCD calculation of the hadronic light-by-light contribution to $(g-2)_\mu$ at the SU(3) flavor-symmetric point $m_\pi=m_K\simeq 420\,$MeV. The representation used is based on coordinate-space perturbation theory, with all QED elements of the relevant Feynman diagrams implemented in continuum, infinite Euclidean space. As a consequence, the effect of using finite lattices to evaluate the QCD four-point function of the electromagnetic current is exponentially suppressed. Thanks to the SU(3)-flavor symmetry, only two topologies of diagrams contribute, the fully connected and the leading disconnected. We show the equivalence in the continuum limit of two methods of computin…

Lattice calculation of the hadronic leading order contribution to the muon g − 2

The European physical journal / Web of Conferences Web of Conferences : proceedings proceedings 234, 01016 - (2020). doi:10.1051/epjconf/202023401016

Charge transport and vector meson dissociation across the thermal phase transition in lattice QCD with two light quark flavors

We compute and analyze correlation functions in the isovector vector channel at vanishing spatial momentum across the deconfinement phase transition in lattice QCD. The simulations are carried out at temperatures $T/T_c=0.156, 0.8, 1.0, 1.25$ and $1.67$ with $T_c\simeq203$MeV for two flavors of Wilson-Clover fermions with a zero-temperature pion mass of $\simeq270$MeV. Exploiting exact sum rules and applying a phenomenologically motivated ansatz allows us to determine the spectral function $\rho(\omega,T)$ via a fit to the lattice correlation function data. From these results we estimate the electrical conductivity across the deconfinement phase transition via a Kubo formula and find eviden…

Developments in the position-space approach to the HLbL contribution to the muon $g-2$ on the lattice

The measurement of the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon and its prediction allow for a high-precision test of the Standard Model (SM). In this proceedings article we present ongoing work combining lattice QCD and continuum QED in order to determine an important SM contribution to the magnetic moment, the hadronic light-by-light contribution. We compute the quark-connected contribution in the Mainz position-space approach and investigate the long-distance part of our data using calculations of the $\pi^0$-pole and charged pion loop contributions.

Lattice calculation of the pion transition form factor π0→γ*γ*

The pion transition form factor for the neutral pion double virtual photon decay is computed in two flavor lattice QCD, extrapolated to the continuum physical point. Implications for the computation of the contribution of hadronic light-by-light scattering to the muon anomalous magnetic moment are discussed.

Lattice QCD: A Brief Introduction

A general introduction to lattice QCD is given. The reader is assumed to have some basic familiarity with the path integral representation of quantum field theory. Emphasis is placed on showing that the lattice regularization provides a robust conceptual and computational framework within quantum field theory. The goal is to provide a useful overview, with many references pointing to the following chapters and to freely available lecture series for more in-depth treatments of specifics topics.

The nucleon sigma terms with $N_f = 2 + 1$ O($a$)-improved Wilson fermions

We present a lattice-QCD based analysis of the nucleon sigma terms using gauge ensembles with $N_f = 2 + 1$ flavors of ${\cal O}(a)$-improved Wilson fermions, with a complete error budget concerning excited-state contaminations, chiral extrapolation as well as finite-size and lattice spacing effects. We compute the sigma terms determined directly from the matrix elements of the scalar currents. For the pion nucleon sigma term, we obtain $\sigma_{\pi N} = (43.6\pm3.8)$ MeV, where the error includes all systematics. The tension with extractions based on dispersion theory persists at the 3-$\sigma$ level. For the strange sigma term, we obtain a non-zero value, $\sigma_s=(27.1\pm9.8)$ MeV.

The charm-quark contribution to light-by-light scattering in the muon (−2) from lattice QCD

We compute the hadronic light-by-light scattering contribution to the muon $g-2$ from the charm quark using lattice QCD. The calculation is performed on ensembles generated with dynamical $(u,d,s)$ quarks at the SU(3)$_{\rm f}$ symmetric point with degenerate pion and kaon masses of around 415 MeV. It includes the connected charm contribution, as well as the leading disconnected Wick contraction, involving the correlation between a charm and a light-quark loop. Cutoff effects turn out to be sizeable, which leads us to use lighter-than-physical charm masses, to employ a broad range of lattice spacings reaching down to 0.039 fm and to perform a combined charm-mass and continuum extrapolation.…

Nucleon axial charge in lattice QCD with controlled errors

We report on our calculation of the nucleon axial charge ${g}_{\mathrm{A}}$ in QCD with two flavors of dynamical quarks. A detailed investigation of systematic errors is performed, with a particular focus on contributions from excited states to three-point correlation functions. The use of summed operator insertions allows for a much better control over such contamination. After performing a chiral extrapolation to the physical pion mass, we find ${g}_{\mathrm{A}}=1.223\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.063(\mathrm{stat}{)}_{\ensuremath{-}0.060}^{+0.035}(\mathrm{syst})$, in good agreement with the experimental value.

Hadronic light-by-light contribution to $(g-2)_\mu $ from lattice QCD: a complete calculation

The European physical journal / C 81(7), 651 (2021). doi:10.1140/epjc/s10052-021-09455-4

Vector screening masses in the quark–gluon plasma and their physical significance

Static and non-static thermal screening states that couple to the conserved vector current are investigated in the high-temperature phase of QCD. Their masses and couplings to the current are determined at weak coupling, as well as using two-flavor lattice QCD simulations. A consistent picture emerges from the comparison, providing evidence that non-static Matsubara modes can indeed be treated perturbatively. We elaborate on the physical significance of the screening masses.

Deep inelastic scattering off quark-gluon plasma and its photon emissivity

The photon emissivity of quark-gluon plasma probes the interactions in the medium and differs qualitatively between a weakly coupled and a strongly coupled plasma in the soft-photon regime. The photon emissivity is given by the product of kinematic factors and a spectral function associated with the two-point correlator of the electromagnetic current at lightlike kinematics. A certain Euclidean correlator at imaginary spatial momentum can be calculated in lattice QCD and is given by an integral over the relevant spectral function at lightlike kinematics. I present a first exploratory lattice calculation of this correlator. Secondly, I show how Euclidean correlators at imaginary spatial mome…

Vacuum correlators at short distances from lattice QCD

Non-perturbatively computing the hadronic vacuum polarization at large photon virtualities and making contact with perturbation theory enables a precision determination of the electromagnetic coupling at the $Z$ pole, which enters global electroweak fits. In order to achieve this goal ab initio using lattice QCD, one faces the challenge that, at the short distances which dominate the observable, discretization errors are hard to control. Here we address challenges of this type with the help of static screening correlators in the high-temperature phase of QCD, yet without incurring any bias. The idea is motivated by the observations that (a) the cost of high-temperature simulations is typica…

Renormalization of the momentum density on the lattice using shifted boundary conditions

In order to extract transport quantities from energy-momentum-tensor (EMT) correlators in Lattice QCD there is a strong need for a non-perturbative renormalization of these operators. This is due to the fact that the lattice regularization explicitly breaks translational invariance, invalidating the non-renormalization-theorem. Here we present a non-perturbative calculation of the renormalization constant of the off-diagonal components of the EMT in SU(3) pure gauge theory using lattices with shifted boundary conditions. This allows us to induce a non-zero momentum in the system controlled by the shift parameter and to determine the normalization of the momentum density operator.

From deep inelastic scattering to heavy-flavor semi-leptonic decays: Total rates into multi-hadron final states from lattice QCD

We present a new technique for extracting decay and transition rates into final states with any number of hadrons. The approach is only sensitive to total rates, in which all out-states with a given set of QCD quantum numbers are included. For processes involving photons or leptons, differential rates with respect to the non-hadronic kinematics may also be extracted. Our method involves constructing a finite-volume Euclidean four-point function, whose corresponding spectral function measures the decay and transition rates in the infinite-volume limit. This requires solving the inverse problem of extracting the spectral function from the correlator and also necessitates a smoothing procedure…

The errant life of a heavy quark in the quark-gluon plasma

In the high-temperature phase of QCD, the heavy quark momentum diffusion constant determines, via a fluctuation-dissipation relation, how fast a heavy quark kinetically equilibrates. This transport coefficient can be extracted from thermal correlators via a Kubo formula. We present a lattice calculation of the relevant Euclidean correlators in the gluon plasma, based on a recent formulation of the problem in heavy-quark effective field theory (HQET). We find a $\approx20%$ enhancement of the Euclidean correlator at maximal time separation as the temperature is lowered from $6T_c$ to $2T_c$, pointing to stronger interactions at lower temperatures. At the same time, the correlator becomes fla…

Prediction for magnetic moment of the muon informs a test of the standard model of particle physics

A new first-principles computation of the effect that creates most uncertainty in calculations of the magnetic moment of the muon particle has been reported. The results might resolve a long-standing puzzle, but pose another conundrum. Fresh evidence in a longstanding puzzle of particle physics.

The pion quasiparticle in the low-temperature phase of QCD

We extend our previous studies [PhysRevD.90.054509, PhysRevD.92.094510] of the pion quasiparticle in the low-temperature phase of two-flavor QCD with support from chiral effective theory. This includes the analysis performed on a finite temperature ensemble of size $20\times 64^3$ at $T\approx 151$MeV and a lighter zero-temperature pion mass $m_{\pi} \approx 185$ MeV. Furthermore, we investigate the Gell-Mann--Oakes-Renner relation at finite temperature and the Dey-Eletsky-Ioffe mixing theorem at finite quark mass.

Isovector electromagnetic form factors of the nucleon from lattice QCD and the proton radius puzzle

Physical review / D 103(9), 094522 (2021). doi:10.1103/PhysRevD.103.094522

Estimating the thermal photon production rate using lattice QCD

We present results for the photon emission rate determined from the transverse channel vector correlator at fixed spatial momentum using two flavors of dynamical Wilson fermions at $T\sim$250 MeV. We estimate the transverse channel spectral function using the continuum extrapolated correlator by applying various fit ans\"atze with a smooth matching to the NLO perturbative result. We confront our estimate based on this channel with the latest results of our collaboration based on the difference of the transverse and longitudinal channels.

On the effect of excited states in lattice calculations of the nucleon axial charge

Excited-state contamination is one of the dominant uncertainties in lattice calculations of the nucleon axial-charge, $g_A$. Recently published results in leading-order chiral perturbation theory (ChPT) predict the excited-state contamination to be independent of the nucleon interpolator and positive. However, empirical results from numerical lattice calculations show negative contamination (downward curvature), indicating that present-day calculations are not in the regime where the leading-order ChPT predictions apply. In this paper we show that, under plausible assumptions, one can reproduce the behavior of lattice correlators by taking into account final-state $N \pi$ interactions, in p…

An estimate for the thermal photon rate from lattice QCD

We estimate the production rate of photons by the quark-gluon plasma in lattice QCD. We propose a new correlation function which provides better control over the systematic uncertainty in estimating the photon production rate at photon momenta in the range {\pi}T/2 to 2{\pi}T. The relevant Euclidean vector current correlation functions are computed with $N_{\mathrm f}$ = 2 Wilson clover fermions in the chirally-symmetric phase. In order to estimate the photon rate, an ill-posed problem for the vector-channel spectral function must be regularized. We use both a direct model for the spectral function and a model-independent estimate from the Backus-Gilbert method to give an estimate for the p…

Lattice Gauge Theory Sum Rule for the Shear Channel

An exact expression is derived for the $(\omega,p)=0$ thermal correlator of shear stress in SU($N_c$) lattice gauge theory. I remove a logarithmic divergence by taking a suitable linear combination of the shear correlator and the correlator of the energy density. The operator product expansion shows that the same linear combination has a finite limit when $\omega\to\infty$. It follows that the vacuum-subtracted shear spectral function vanishes at large frequencies at least as fast as $\alpha_s^2(\omega)$ and obeys a sum rule. The trace anomaly makes a potential contribution to the spectral sum rule which remains to be fully calculated, but which I estimate to be numerically small for $T\gtr…

Hadronic light-by-light scattering contribution to the muon $g-2$ from lattice QCD: semi-analytical calculation of the QED kernel

Hadronic light-by-light scattering is one of the virtual processes that causes the gyromagnetic factor $g$ of the muon to deviate from the value of two predicted by Dirac's theory. This process makes one of the largest contributions to the uncertainty of the Standard Model prediction for the muon $(g-2)$. Lattice QCD allows for a first-principles approach to computing this non-perturbative effect. In order to avoid power-law finite-size artifacts generated by virtual photons in lattice simulations, we follow a coordinate-space approach involving a weighted integral over the vertices of the QCD four-point function of the electromagnetic current carried by the quarks. Here we present in detai…

Nucleon electromagnetic form factors in two-flavor QCD

We present results for the nucleon electromagnetic form factors, including the momentum transfer dependence and derived quantities (charge radii and magnetic moment). The analysis is performed using O(a) improved Wilson fermions in Nf=2 QCD measured on the CLS ensembles. Particular focus is placed on a systematic evaluation of the influence of excited states in three-point correlation functions, which lead to a biased evaluation, if not accounted for correctly. We argue that the use of summed operator insertions and fit ans\"atze including excited states allow us to suppress and control this effect. We employ a novel method to perform joint chiral and continuum extrapolations, by fitting th…

Excited state systematics in extracting nucleon electromagnetic form factors

We present updated preliminary results for the nucleon electromagnetic form factors for non-perturbatively $\mathcal{O}(a)$ improved Wilson fermions in $N_f=2$ QCD measured on the CLS ensembles. The use of the summed operator insertion method allows us to suppress the influence of excited states in our measurements. A study of the effect that excited state contaminations have on the $Q^2$ dependence of the extracted nucleon form factors may then be made through comparisons of the summation method to standard plateau fits, as well as to excited state fits.

Static and non-static vector screening masses

Thermal screening masses of the conserved vector current are calculated both in a weak-coupling approach and in lattice QCD. The inverse of a screening mass can be understood as the length scale over which an external electric field is screened in a QCD medium. The comparison of screening masses both in the zero and non-zero Matsubara frequency sectors shows good agreement of the perturbative and the lattice results. Moreover, at $T\approx 508\mathrm{MeV}$ the lightest screening mass lies above the free result ($2\pi T$), in agreement with the $\mathcal{O}(g^2)$ weak-coupling prediction.

The leading disconnected contribution to the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon

The hadronic vacuum polarization can be determined from the vector correlator in a mixed time-momentum representation. We explicitly calculate the disconnected contribution to the vector correlator, both in the $N_f = 2$ theory and with an additional quenched strange quark, using non-perturbatively $O(a)$-improved Wilson fermions. All-to-all propagators are computed using stochastic sources and a generalized hopping parameter expansion. Combining the result with the dominant connected contribution, we are able to estimate an upper bound for the systematic error that arises from neglecting the disconnected contribution in the determination of $(g-2)_\mu$.

Deep inelastic scattering on the quark-gluon plasma

We provide an interpretation of the structure functions of a thermal medium such as the quark-gluon plasma in terms of the scattering of an incoming electron on the medium via the exchange of a spacelike photon. We then focus on the deep-inelastic scattering (DIS) regime, and formulate the corresponding moment sum rules obeyed by the structure functions. Accordingly, these moments are given by the thermal expectation value of twist-two operators, which is computable from first principles in lattice QCD for the first few moments. We also show how lattice QCD calculations can be used to probe how large the photon virtuality needs to be in order for the Bjorken scaling of structure functions t…

The hadronic vacuum polarization function with O(a)-improved Wilson fermions - an update

We present an update of our lattice QCD study of the vacuum polarization function using O$(a)$-improved $N_ {\rm f} =2$ Wilson fermions with increased statistics and a large set of momenta. The resulting points are highly correlated and thus require a correlated fitting procedure. We employ an extended frequentist method to estimate the systematic uncertainties due to the momentum dependence and to the continuum and chiral extrapolations. We present preliminary results of the leading order hadronic contribution of the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon $\left(a_\mu^{\mathrm{HLO}}\right)$ at the physical point for $u,d,s$ and $c$ valence quarks.

The rate of photon production in the quark-gluon plasma from lattice QCD

We calculate the thermal rate of real-photon production in the quark-gluon plasma at a temperature of $T=254$ MeV using lattice QCD. The calculation is based on the difference between the spatially transverse and longitudinal parts of the polarization tensor, which has the advantage of falling off rapidly at large frequencies. We obtain this linear combination in the time-momentum representation from lattice QCD with two flavors of quarks in the continuum limit with a precision of about two parts per mille. Applying a theoretically motivated fit ansatz for the associated spectral function, we obtain values for the photon rate that are in line with QCD weak-coupling calculations; for photon …

Adler function and hadronic vacuum polarization from lattice vector correlators in the time-momentum representation

We study a representation of the hadronic vacuum polarization based on the time-momentum representation of the vector correlator. This representation suggests a way to compute the hadronic vacuum polarization and the associated Adler function for any value of virtuality, irrespective of the flavor structure of the current. We present results on both of these phenomenologically important functions, derived from local-conserved two-point lattice vector correlation functions, computed on a subset of light two-flavor ensembles made available to us through the CLS effort.

Nonperturbative renormalization and O ( a ) -improvement of the nonsinglet vector current with N

Moments of GPDs and transerse-momentum dependent PDFs from the lattice

Nonperturbative renormalization and $O(a )$-improvement of the nonsinglet vector current with $N_f = 2 + 1$ Wilson fermions and tree-level Symanzik improved gauge action

Physical review / D 99(1), 014519 (2019). doi:10.1103/PhysRevD.99.014519

Exploratory studies for the position-space approach to hadronic light-by-light scattering in the muon g - 2

The well-known discrepancy in the muon $g-2$ between experiment and theory demands further theory investigations in view of the upcoming new experiments. One of the leading uncertainties lies in the hadronic light-by-light scattering contribution (HLbL), that we address with our position-space approach. We focus on exploratory studies of the pion-pole contribution in a simple model and the fermion loop without gluon exchanges in the continuum and in infinite volume. These studies provide us with useful information for our planned computation of HLbL in the muon $g-2$ using full QCD.

Leading hadronic contribution to (g−2)μ from lattice QCD with Nf=2+1 flavors of O(a) improved Wilson quarks

The comparison of the theoretical and experimental determinations of the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon (g−2)μ constitutes one of the strongest tests of the Standard Model at low energies. We compute the leading hadronic contribution to (g−2)μ using lattice QCD simulations employing Wilson quarks. Gauge field ensembles at four different lattice spacings and several values of the pion mass down to its physical value are used. We apply the O(a) improvement program with two discretizations of the vector current to better constrain the approach to the continuum limit. The electromagnetic current correlators are computed in the time-momentum representation. In addition, we perform auxilia…

On the strength of the U A (1) anomaly at the chiral phase transition in N f = 2 QCD

We study the thermal transition of QCD with two degenerate light flavours by lattice simulations using $O(a)$-improved Wilson quarks. Temperature scans are performed at a fixed value of $N_t = (aT)^{-1}=16$, where $a$ is the lattice spacing and $T$ the temperature, at three fixed zero-temperature pion masses between 200 MeV and 540 MeV. In this range we find that the transition is consistent with a broad crossover. As a probe of the restoration of chiral symmetry, we study the static screening spectrum. We observe a degeneracy between the transverse isovector vector and axial-vector channels starting from the transition temperature. Particularly striking is the strong reduction of the split…

Coordinate-space calculation of the window observable for the hadronic vacuum polarization contribution to (g−2)μ

A new representation of the Adler function for lattice QCD

We address several aspects of lattice QCD calculations of the hadronic vacuum polarization and the associated Adler function. We implement a representation derived previously which allows one to access these phenomenologically important functions for a continuous set of virtualities, irrespective of the flavor structure of the current. Secondly we present a theoretical analysis of the finite-size effects on our particular representation of the Adler function, based on the operator product expansion at large momenta and on the spectral representation of the Euclidean correlator at small momenta. Finally, an analysis of the flavor structure of the electromagnetic current correlator is perform…

Light-by-light forward scattering amplitudes in Lattice QCD

We present our preliminary results on the calculation of hadronic light-by-light forward scattering amplitudes using vector four-point correlation functions computed on the lattice. Using a dispersive approach, forward scattering amplitudes can be described by $\gamma^* \gamma^* \to$ hadrons fusion cross sections and then compared with phenomenology. We show that only a few states are needed to reproduce our data. In particular, the sum rules considered in this study imply relations between meson$-\gamma\gamma$ couplings and provide valuable information about individual form factors which are often used to estimate the meson-pole contributions to the hadronic light-by-light contribution to …

Adler function and hadronic vacuum polarization from lattice vector correlators

We study a representation of the hadronic vacuum polarization based on the time-momentum representation of the vector correlator. This representation suggests a way to compute the hadronic vacuum polarization and the associated Adler function for any value of virtuality, irrespective of the flavor structure of the current. We present results on both of these phenomenologically important functions, derived from local-conserved two-point lattice vector correlation functions, computed on a subset of light two-flavor ensembles made available to us through the CLS effort.

QCD thermodynamics with two flavours of Wilson fermions on large lattices

We explore the phase diagram of two flavour QCD at vanishing chemical potential using dynamical O(a)-improved Wilson quarks. In the approach to the chiral limit we use lattices with a temporal extent of N_t=16 and spatial extent L=32,48 and 64 to enable the extrapolation to the thermodynamic limit with small discretisation effects. In addition to an update on the scans at constant \kappa, reported earlier, we present first results from scans along lines of constant physics at a pion mass of 290 MeV. We probe the transition using the Polyakov loop and the chiral condensate, as well as spectroscopic observables such as screening masses.

A lattice calculation of the hadronic vacuum polarization contribution to (g - 2)μ

We present results of calculations of the hadronic vacuum polarisation contribution to the muon anomalous magnetic moment. Specifically, we focus on controlling the infrared regime of the vacuum polarisation function. Our results are corrected for finite-size effects by combining the Gounaris-Sakurai parameterisation of the timelike pion form factor with the Lüscher formalism. The impact of quark-disconnected diagrams and the precision of the scale determination is discussed and included in our final result in two-flavour QCD, which carries an overall uncertainty of 6%. We present preliminary results computed on ensembles with Nf = 2 + 1 dynamical flavours and discuss how the long-distance …

Lattice calculation of the pion transition form factor $��^0 \to ��^* ��^*$

We calculate the $��^0\to ��^*��^*$ transition form factor ${\cal F}_{��^0��^*��^*}(q_1^2,q_2^2)$ in lattice QCD with two flavors of quarks. Our main motivation is to provide the input to calculate the $��^0$-pole contribution to hadronic light-by-light scattering in the muon $(g-2)$, $a_��^{\rm HLbL;��^0}$. We therefore focus on the region where both photons are spacelike up to virtualities of about $1.5~$GeV$^2$, which has so far not been experimentally accessible. Results are obtained in the continuum at the physical pion mass by a combined extrapolation. We reproduce the prediction of the chiral anomaly for real photons with an accuracy of about $8-9\%$. We also compare to various recen…

Isovector Axial Vector Form Factors of the Nucleon from Lattice QCD with Nf=2+1 O(a)-improved Wilson Fermions

We present the analysis of isovector axial vector nucleon form factors on a set of $N_f=2+1$ CLS ensembles with $\mathcal O(a)$-improved Wilson fermions and L\"uscher-Weisz gauge action. The set of ensembles covers a pion mass range of $130-353\,$MeV with lattice spacings between $0.05\,$fm and $0.09\,$fm. In particular, the set includes a $L/a=96$ ensemble at the physical pion mass. For the purpose of the form factor extraction, we employ both the summed operator insertion method (summation method) and explicit two-state fits in order to account for excited-state contributions to the nucleon correlation functions. To describe the $Q^{2}$-behavior of the form factors, we perform $z$-expansi…

Lorentz-covariant coordinate-space representation of the leading hadronic contribution to the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon

We present a Lorentz-covariant, Euclidean coordinate-space expression for the hadronic vacuum polarisation, the Adler function and the leading hadronic contribution to the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon. The representation offers a lot of flexibility for an implementation in lattice QCD. We expect it to be particularly helpful for the quark-line disconnected contributions.

Hadronic Contributions to the Anomalous Magnetic Moment of the Muon from Lattice QCD

The Standard Model of Particle Physics describes three of the four known fundamental interactions: the strong interaction between quarks and gluons, the electromagnetic interaction, and the weak interaction. While the Standard Model is extremely successful, we know that it is not a complete description of nature. One way to search for physics beyond the Standard Model lies in the measurement of precision observables. The anomalous magnetic moment of the muon \(a_\mu \equiv \frac{1}{2}(g-2)_\mu \), quantifying the deviation of the gyromagnetic ratio from the exact value of 2 predicted by the Dirac equation, is one such precision observable. It exhibits a persistent discrepancy of 3.5 standar…

Direct calculation of hadronic light-by-light scattering

We report calculations of hadronic light-by-light scattering amplitudes via lattice QCD evaluation of Euclidean four-point functions of vector currents. These initial results include only the fully quark-connected contribution. Particular attention is given to the case of forward scattering, which can be related via dispersion relations to the $\gamma^* \gamma^* \to$ hadrons cross section, and thus allows lattice data to be compared with phenomenology. We also present a strategy for computing the hadronic light-by-light contribution to the muon anomalous magnetic moment.

A variational method for spectral functions

The Generalized Eigenvalue Problem (GEVP) has been used extensively in the past in order to reliably extract energy levels from time-dependent Euclidean correlators calculated in Lattice QCD. We propose a formulation of the GEVP in frequency space. Our approach consists of applying the model-independent Backus-Gilbert method to a set of Euclidean two-point functions with common quantum numbers. A GEVP analysis in frequency space is then applied to a matrix of estimators that allows us, among other things, to obtain particular linear combinations of the initial set of operators that optimally overlap to different local regions in frequency. We apply this method to lattice data from NRQCD. Th…

The pion quasiparticle in the low-temperature phase of QCD

We investigate the properties of the pion quasiparticle in the low-temperature phase of two-flavor QCD on the lattice with support from chiral effective theory. We find that the pion quasiparticle mass is significantly reduced compared to its value in the vacuum, by contrast with the static screening mass, which increases with temperature. By a simple argument, near the chiral limit the two masses are expected to determine the quasiparticle dispersion relation. Analyzing two-point functions of the axial charge density at non-vanishing spatial momentum, we find that the predicted dispersion relation and the residue of the pion pole are simultaneously consistent with the lattice data at low m…

Isovector Axial Form Factor of the Nucleon from Lattice QCD

The isovector axial form factor of the nucleon plays a key role in interpreting data from long-baseline neutrino oscillation experiments. We present a lattice QCD calculation of this form factor, introducing a new method to directly extract its z-expansion from lattice correlators. Our final parameterization of the form factor, which extends up to spacelike virtualities of 0.7 GeV^2 with fully quantified uncertainties, agrees with previous lattice calculations but is significantly less steep than neutrino-deuterium scattering data suggests.

Forward light-by-light scattering and electromagnetic correction to hadronic vacuum polarization

Lattice QCD calculations of the hadronic vacuum polarization (HVP) have reached a precision where the electromagnetic (e.m.) correction can no longer be neglected. This correction is both computationally challenging and hard to validate, as it leads to ultraviolet (UV) divergences and to sizeable infrared (IR) effects associated with the massless photon. While we precisely determine the UV divergence using the operator-product expansion, we propose to introduce a separation scale $\Lambda\sim400\;$MeV into the internal photon propagator, whereby the calculation splits into a short-distance part, regulated in the UV by the lattice and in the IR by the scale $\Lambda$, and a UV-finite long-di…

Electromagnetic form factors and axial charge of the nucleon from Nf = 2 + 1 Wilson fermions

We present an update on our determination of the electromagnetic form factors and axial charge of the nucleon from theNf= 2 + 1 CLS ensembles with increased statistics and an additional finer lattice spacing. We also investigate the impact ofO(a)-improvement of the currents.

A new method for suppressing excited-state contaminations on the nucleon form factors

One of the most challenging tasks in lattice calculations of baryon form factors is the analysis and control of excited-state contaminations. Taking the isovector axial form factors of the nucleon as an example, both a dispersive representation and a calculation in chiral effective field theory show that the excited-state contributions become dominant at fixed source-sink separation when the axial current is spatially distant from the nucleon source location. We address this effect with a new method in which the axial current is localized by a Gaussian wave-packet and apply it on a CLS ensemble with $N_f=2+1$ flavors of O($a$) improved Wilson fermions with a pion mass of $m_\pi=200\,$MeV.

Lattice QCD estimate of the quark-gluon plasma photon emission rate

We present a computation of the photon emission rate of the quark-gluon plasma from two-flavor lattice QCD at a temperature of 254 MeV, which follows up on the work presented in [1]. We perform a continuum extrapolation of the vector-current correlator, and consider a linear combination of the Lorentz indices corresponding to a UV-finite spectral function. To extract the spectral function from the lattice correlators, an ill-posed inverse problem, we model the spectral function with a Pad\'e ansatz. We further constrain our analysis by simultaneously fitting data with different momenta. We present results for a multi-momentum fit including the three smallest momenta available from our latti…

Lattice calculation of the pion transition form factor with $N_f=2+1$ Wilson quarks

Physical review / D D 100(3), 034520 (2019). doi:10.1103/PhysRevD.100.034520

A relation between screening masses and real-time rates

Thermal screening masses related to the conserved vector current are determined for the case that the current carries a non-zero Matsubara frequency, both in a weak-coupling approach and through lattice QCD. We point out that such screening masses are sensitive to the same infrared physics as light-cone real-time rates. In particular, on the perturbative side, the inhomogeneous Schrodinger equation determining screening correlators is shown to have the same general form as the equation implementing LPM resummation for the soft-dilepton and photon production rates from a hot QCD plasma. The static potential appearing in the equation is identical to that whose soft part has been determined up…

Hadronic light-by-light scattering amplitudes from lattice QCD versus dispersive sum rules

The hadronic contribution to the eight forward amplitudes of light-by-light scattering ($\gamma^*\gamma^*\to \gamma^*\gamma^*$) is computed in lattice QCD. Via dispersive sum rules, the amplitudes are compared to a model of the $\gamma^*\gamma^*\to {\rm hadrons}$ cross sections in which the fusion process is described by hadronic resonances. Our results thus provide an important test for the model estimates of hadronic light-by-light scattering in the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon, $a_\mu^{\rm HLbL}$. Using simple parametrizations of the resonance $M\to \gamma^*\gamma^*$ transition form factors, we determine the corresponding monopole and dipole masses by performing a global fit to …

Antiscreening of the Ampère force in QED and QCD plasmas

The static forces between electric charges and currents are modified at the loop level by the presence of a plasma. While electric charges are screened, currents are not. The effective coupling constant at long distances is enhanced in both cases as compared to the vacuum, and by different amounts, a clear sign that Lorentz symmetry is broken. We investigate these effects quantitatively, first in a QED plasma and secondly using non-perturbative simulations of QCD with two light degenerate flavors of quarks.

Lattice QCD and the timelike pion form factor.

We present a formula that allows one to calculate the pion form factor in the timelike region 2mpi <= sqrt{s} <= 4mpi in lattice QCD. The form factor quantifies the contribution of two-pion states to the vacuum polarization. It must be known very accurately in order to reduce the theoretical uncertainty on the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon. At the same time, the formula constitutes a rare example where, in a restricted kinematic regime, the spectral function of a conserved current can be determined from Euclidean observables without an explicit analytic continuation.

Two-flavour lattice QCD correlation functions in the deconfinement transition region

We report on a lattice QCD calculation with two dynamical flavors of the isovector vector correlator in the high-temperature phase. We analyze the correlator in terms of the associated spectral function by performing a fit for the difference of the thermal and vacuum spectral functions, using also an exact sum rule that constrains this difference. Additonally we carry out a direct fit for the thermal spectral function, and obtain good agreement between the two analyses for frequencies below the two-pion threshold. Under the assumption that the spectral function is smooth in that region, we give an estimate of the electrical conductivity.

Round Table on Quark-gluon plasma: What is it and how do we find out?

Non-perturbative improvement of the vector current in Wilson lattice QCD

Many observables of interest in lattice QCD are extracted from correlation functions involving the vector current. If Wilson fermions are used, it is therefore of practical importance that, besides the action, the current be O($a$) improved in order to remove the leading discretization errors from the observables. Here we introduce and apply a new method to determine the improvement coefficient for the two most widely used discretizations of the current.

The anomalous magnetic moment of the muon in the Standard Model

We are very grateful to the Fermilab Directorate and the Fermilab Theoretical Physics Department for their financial and logistical support of the first workshop of the Muon g -2 Theory Initiative (held near Fermilab in June 2017) [123], which was crucial for its success, and indeed for the successful start of the Initiative. Financial support for this workshop was also provided by the Fermilab Distinguished Scholars program, the Universities Research Association through a URA Visiting Scholar award, the Riken Brookhaven Research Center, and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science under Grant No. KAKEHNHI-17H02906. We thank Shoji Hashimoto, Toru Iijima, Takashi Kaneko, and Shohei Nis…

Lattice QCD calculation of hadronic light-by-light scattering

We perform a lattice QCD calculation of the hadronic light-by-light scattering amplitude in a broad kinematical range. At forward kinematics, the results are compared to a phenomenological analysis based on dispersive sum rules for light-by-light scattering. The size of the pion pole contribution is investigated for momenta of typical hadronic size. The presented numerical methods can be used to compute the hadronic light-by-light contribution to the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon. Our calculations are carried out in two-flavor QCD with the pion mass in the range of 270 to 450MeV, and contain so far only the diagrams with fully connected quark lines.

Hadronic light-by-light scattering in the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon

15th International Workshop on Tau Lepton Physics, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 24 Sep 2018 - 28 Sep 2018; SciPost physics 1, 031 (2019). doi:10.21468/SciPostPhysProc.1.031

QCD at non-zero temperature from the lattice

I review the status of lattice QCD calculations at non-zero temperature. After summarizing what is known about the equilibrium properties of strongly interacting matter, I discuss in more detail recent results concerning the quark-mass dependence of the thermal phase transition and the status of calculations of non-equilibrium properties.

Total decay and transition rates from LQCD

We present a new technique for extracting total transition rates into final states with any number of hadrons from lattice QCD. The method involves constructing a finite-volume Euclidean four-point function whose corresponding infinite-volume spectral function gives access to the decay and transition rates into all allowed final states. The inverse problem of calculating the spectral function is solved via the Backus-Gilbert method, which automatically includes a smoothing procedure. This smoothing is in fact required so that an infinite-volume limit of the spectral function exists. Using a numerical toy example we find that reasonable precision can be achieved with realistic lattice data. …

The transverse structure of the QCD string

The characterization of the transverse structure of the QCD string is discussed. We formulate a conjecture as to how the stress-energy tensor of the underlying gauge theory couples to the string degrees of freedom. A consequence of the conjecture is that the energy density and the longitudinal-stress operators measure the distribution of the transverse position of the string, to leading order in the string fluctuations, whereas the transverse-stress operator does not. We interpret recent numerical measurements of the transverse size of the confining string and show that the difference of the energy and longitudinal-stress operators is the appropriate probe to use when comparing with the nex…

The leading hadronic contribution to (g-2) of the muon: The chiral behavior using the mixed representation method

We extend our analysis of the leading hadronic contribution to the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon using the mixed representation method to study its chiral behavior. We present results derived from local-conserved two-point lattice vector correlation functions, computed on a subset of light two-flavor ensembles made available to us through the CLS effort with pion masses as low as 190 MeV. The data is analyzed also using the more standard four-momentum method. Both methods are systematically compared as the calculations approach the physical point.

Fitting strategies to extract the axial charge of the nucleon from lattice QCD

We report on a comparison of several fit methods used for the extraction of the nucleon axial charge gA from lattice QCD with two dynamical flavours of O(a) improved Wilson quarks. We use plateau fits, summed operator insertions (the summation method) and a new “midpoint” method to investigate contributions from excited states that affect the determination of gA. We also present a method to perform correlated fits when the standard estimator for the inverse of the covariance matrix becomes unstable.

Isovector Axial Vector Form Factors of the Nucleon from Lattice QCD with $N_{f}=2+1$ $\mathcal O(a)$-improved Wilson Fermions

We present the analysis of isovector axial vector nucleon form factors on a set of $N_f=2+1$ CLS ensembles with $\mathcal O(a)$-improved Wilson fermions and Lüscher-Weisz gauge action. The set of ensembles covers a pion mass range of $130-353\,$MeV with lattice spacings between $0.05\,$fm and $0.09\,$fm. In particular, the set includes a $L/a=96$ ensemble at the physical pion mass. For the purpose of the form factor extraction, we employ both the summed operator insertion method (summation method) and explicit two-state fits in order to account for excited-state contributions to the nucleon correlation functions. To describe the $Q^{2}$-behavior of the form factors, we perform $z$-expansion…