arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to C. G. Strouthos.
We present results from numerical studies of the NJL model with two massless quarks at nonzero temperature. We show that the model undergoes a second order chiral phase transition which belongs to the 3d O(4) spin model universality class.
We present preliminary numerical results for the three dimensional non-compact QED with a weak four-fermion term in the lattice action. Approaches based on Schwinger-Dyson studies, arguments based on thermodynamic inequalities and numerical simulations lead to estimates of the critical number of fermion flavors (below which chiral symmetry is broken) ranging from $N_{fc}=1$ to $N_{fc}=4$. The weak four-fermion coupling provides the framework for an improved algorithm, which allows us to simulate the chiral limit of massless fermions and expose delicate effects.
We present simulation results of the (2+1)d four-fermion model with a baryon chemical potential. We examine temporal correlation functions of the vector meson, and find evidence of phonon-like behavior characterised by a linear dispersion relation in the long wavelength limit. We also discuss the consistency of our numerical results with analytical solutions to the Boltzmann equation corresponding to zero sound. We argue that our results provide the first evidence for a collective excitation in a lattice simulation.
We present numerical results for non-compact three-dimensional QED for numbers of flavors N_f=1 and N_f=4.In particular, we address the issue of whether chiral symmetry is spontaneously broken in the continuum limit, and obtain a positive answer for N_f=1, with a dimensionless condensate estimated to be beta^2 ~= O(10^-3), implying that the critical number of flavors N_fc>1. We also compare the N_f=1 and N_f=4 models by analysing the transition from strong to weak coupling behaviour using an equation of state based on a continuous phase transition. While some qualitative differences emerge, it appears difficult to determine whether N_f=4 lies above or below N_fc.
Non-compact QED(3) with four-component fermion flavor content larger than or equal to two is studied numerically near the chiral limit to understand its chiral symmetry breaking features. We monitor discretization and finite size effects on the chiral condensate by simulating the model at different values of the gauge coupling on lattices ranging in size from 10^3 to 50^3. Our upper bound for the dimensionless condensate beta^2 in the N_f=2 case is 5x10^{-5}.
Non-compact three-dimensional QED is studied by computer simulations to understand its chiral symmetry breaking features for N_f>=2, on lattice volumes up to 50^3 and bare masses as low as ma=0.0000625. We compute the chiral condensate, scalar and pseudoscalar susceptibilities, and the masses of scalar and pseudoscalar mesons. Finite volume effects and discretisation artifacts are carefully monitored. Our results reveal no decisive signal for chiral symmetry breaking for any N_f>=2. For N_f=2 the dimensionless condensate can be bounded by beta^2 <= 5x10^-5. We also present an exploratory study of the fractionally-charged Polyakov line.
We investigate spectral functions extracted using the Maximum Entropy Method from correlators measured in lattice simulations of the (2+1)-dimensional four-fermion model. This model is particularly interesting because it has both a chirally broken phase with a rich spectrum of mesonic bound states and a symmetric phase where there are only resonances. In the broken phase we study the elementary fermion, pion, sigma and massive pseudoscalar meson; our results confirm the Goldstone nature of the pi and permit an estimate of the meson binding energy. We have, however, seen no signal of sigma -> pi pi decay as the chiral limit is approached. In the symmetric phase we observe a resonance of non-zero width in qualitative agreement with analytic expectations; in addition the ultra-violet behaviour of the spectral functions is consistent with the large non-perturbative anomalous dimension for fermion composite operators expected in this model.
We present results from a numerical study of bound state wavefunctions in the (2+1)-dimensional Gross-Neveu model with staggered lattice fermions at both zero and nonzero temperature. Mesonic channels with varying quantum numbers are identified and analysed. In the strongly coupled chirally broken phase at T=0 the wavefunctions expose effects due to varying the interaction strength more effectively than straightforward spectroscopy. In the weakly coupled chirally restored phase information on fermion - antifermion scattering is recovered. In the hot chirally restored phase we find evidence for a screened interaction. The T=0 chirally symmetric phase is most readily distinguished from the symmetric phase at high T via the fermion dispersion relation.
We present results from numerical simulations of the (2+1)-dimensional Gross-Neveu model with a U(1) chiral symmetry and N_f=4 fermion species at non-zero temperature. We provide evidence that there are two different chirally symmetric phases, one critical and one with finite correlation length, separated by a Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless transition. We have also identified a regime above the critical temperature in which the fermions acquire a screening mass even in the absence of chiral symmetry breaking, analogous to the pseudogap behaviour observed in cuprate superconductors.
The three-dimensional four-fermion model with a Z_2 chiral symmetry and N=4 fermion species in the system is investigated numerically at non-zero temparature and chemical potential. The phase diagram in the (chemical potential, temperature) plane is mapped out quantitatively. A detailed finite size scaling analysis shows that the zero temperature and non-zero chemical potential chiral phase transition is first order, whereas the non-zero temperature and non-zero chemical potential transition remains second order down to very low temperatures. Quantitative results for the location of the end of the first order line are given. The simulations at T=0 provided no evidence for a nuclear liquid-gas transition.
We study a Yukawa theory with spontaneous chiral symmetry breaking and with a large number N of fermions near the finite temperature phase transition. Critical properties in such a system can be described by the mean field theory very close to the transition point. We show that the width of the region where non-trivial critical behavior sets in is suppressed by a certain power of 1/N. Our Monte Carlo simulations confirm these analytical results. We discuss implications for the chiral phase transition in QCD.