arXiv subjects

Claudio Pica

Publications and source records attributed to Claudio Pica.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2025

High-Performance Simulations of Higher Representations of Wilson Fermions

We present HiRep v2, an open-source software suite for high-performance lattice field theory simulations with dynamical Wilson fermions in higher representations of $SU(N_g)$ gauge groups. This new version fully supports GPU acceleration, optimizing both gauge configuration generation and measurements for NVIDIA and AMD GPUs. HiRep v2 integrates improved gauge and fermionic lattice actions, advanced inverters, and Monte Carlo algorithms, including (R)HMC with Hasenbusch acceleration. It exhibits excellent scalability across multiple GPUs and nodes with minimal efficiency loss, making it a robust tool for large-scale simulations in physics beyond the Standard Model.

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arXiv2024

Scaling SU(2) to 1000 GPUs using HiRep

HiRep allows flexible simulations of higher representations of Wilson Fermions with various actions and gauge groups and a range of inverters and integrators. This is particularly important for enabling evaluations of observables relevant to phenomenological inputs for Beyond-the-Standard-Model physics from lattice field theory. We present progress on the GPU porting of available features, especially in terms of scaling to large jobs on AMD GPUs.

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arXiv2024

GPU-accelerated Higher Representations of Wilson Fermions with HiRep

We are improving one of the available lattice software packages HiRep by adding GPU acceleration supporting highly-optimized simulations on both NVIDIA and AMD GPUs. HiRep allows lattice simulations of theories with fermions in higher representations and a variable number of colors in the gauge group. The development is accompanied by an overall software quality improvement in the build system, testing, and documentation, adding features for both CPUs and GPUs. The software is available under https://github.com/claudiopica/HiRep

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arXiv2021

Scattering of Goldstone Bosons and resonance production in a Composite Higgs model on the lattice

We calculate the coupling between a vector resonance and two Goldstone bosons in $SU(2)$ gauge theory with $N_f=2$ Dirac fermions in the fundamental representation. The considered theory can be used to construct a minimal Composite Higgs models. The coupling is related to the width of the vector resonance and we determine it by simulating the scattering of two Goldstone bosons where the resonance is produced. The resulting coupling is $g_{\rm{VPP}}=7.8\pm 0.6$, not far from $g_{ρππ}\simeq 6$ in QCD. This is the first lattice calculation of the resonance properties for a minimal UV completion. This coupling controls the production cross section of the lightest expected resonance at the LHC and enters into other tests of the Standard Model, from Vector Boson Fusion to electroweak precision tests. Our prediction is crucial to constrain the model using lattice input and for understanding the behavior of the vector meson production cross section as a function of the underlying gauge theory. We also extract the coupling $g_{\rm{VPP}}^{\rm{KSRF}} =9.4 \pm 0.6$ assuming the vector-dominance and find that this phenomenological estimate slightly overestimates the value of the coupling.

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arXiv2020

Walking Dynamics Guaranteed

We report evidence for a continuous transition from an infrared conformal phase to a chirally broken one in four dimensions. We study a model with two Dirac fermions in the adjoint representation of an SU(2) gauge interaction and a chirally symmetric four-fermion interaction. At large four-fermion coupling, the model goes through a transition into a chirally broken phase and infrared conformality is lost. We show strong evidence that this transition is continuous, which would guarantee walking dynamics within the scaling region in the chirally broken phase.

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arXiv2020

Fundamental Composite Dynamics: A Review

We introduce fundamental gauge theories that can be employed to construct informed composite bright and dark extensions of the Standard Model, within and beyond the standard paradigms. The gap between theory and experiments is bridged by providing predictions and ways to test them, for example, at the Fermi scale and via precision flavor experiments. We will review time-honoured paradigms from (walking) technicolor to composite Goldstone Higgs and discuss their features and differences. Standard model fermion mass generation in composite models will also be discussed along with the challenges and opportunities that it offers. To be concrete and pedagogical we will concentrate on minimal constructions featuring strongly coupled gauge theories supporting the global symmetry breaking pattern SU(4)/Sp(4). The most minimal underlying fundamental description consists of an SU(2) gauge theory with two Dirac fermions transforming according to the fundamental representation of the gauge group. This minimal choice enables us to use first principle lattice results to predict the massive spectrum for models of composite (Goldstone) Higgs dynamics and strongly interacting dark matter, of immediate impact for current and future experimental searches. Because composite dynamics embraces a rich spectrum of theories with dynamics ranging from QCD-like behaviour to (near) conformal one, we also report here the state-of-the-art of numerical and analytic properties of several strongly coupled theories including their spectrum, phase diagrams and, when applicable, their (near) conformal data.

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arXiv2018

Tuning the Hybrid Monte Carlo algorithm using molecular dynamics forces' variances

Within the HMC algorithm, we discuss how, by using the shadow Hamiltonian and the Poisson brackets, one can achieve a simple factorization in the dependence of the Hamiltonian violations upon either the algorithmic parameters or the parameters specifying the integrator. We consider the simplest case of a second order (nested) Omelyan integrator and one level of Hasenbusch splitting of the determinant for the simulations of a QCD-like theory (with gauge group SU(2)). Given the specific choice of the integrator, the Poisson brackets reduce to the variances of the molecular dynamics forces. We show how the factorization can be used to optimize in a very economical and simple way both the algorithmic and the integrator parameters with good accuracy.

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arXiv2017

SU(2) with fundamental fermions and scalars

We present preliminary results on the lattice simulation of an SU(2) gauge theory with two fermion flavors and one strongly interacting scalar field, all in the fundamental representation of SU(2). The motivation for this study comes from the recent proposal of "fundamental" partial compositeness models featuring strongly interacting scalar fields in addition to fermions. Here we describe the lattice setup for our study of this class of models and a first exploration of the lattice phase diagram. In particular we then investigate how the presence of a strongly coupled scalar field affects the properties of light meson resonances previously obtained for the SU(2) model.

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arXiv2017

SU(3) sextet model with Wilson fermions

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 at infinite volume. We consider the masses and decay constants for the pseudoscalar and vector mesons, the mass of the axial vector meson and the spin-1/2 baryon as a function of the quark mass, while controlling finite volume effects. We then test our data against both the IR conformal and the chirally broken hypotheses.

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arXiv2017

Update on SU(2) gauge theory with NF = 2 fundamental flavours

We present a non perturbative study of SU(2) gauge theory with two fundamental Dirac flavours. This theory provides a minimal template which is ideal for a wide class of Standard Model extensions featuring novel strong dynamics, such as a minimal realization of composite Higgs models. We present an update on the status of the meson spectrum and decay constants based on increased statistics on our existing ensembles and the inclusion of new ensembles with lighter pion masses, resulting in a more reliable chiral extrapolation.

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arXiv2017

UV and IR Zeros of Gauge Theories at The Four Loop Order and Beyond

We unveil the general features of the phase diagram for any gauge theory with fermions transforming according to distinct representations of the underlying gauge group, at the four-loop order. We classify and analyze the zeros of the perturbative beta function and discover the existence of a rich phase diagram. The anomalous dimension of the fermion masses, at the infrared stable fixed point, are presented. We show that the infrared fixed point, and associated anomalous dimension, are well described by the all-orders beta function for any theory. We also argue the possible existence, to all orders, of a nontrivial ultraviolet fixed point for gauge theories at large number of flavors.

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arXiv2017

Ideal Walking Dynamics via a Gauged NJL Model

According to the Ideal Walking Technicolor paradigm large mass anomalous dimensions arise in gauged Nambu--Jona-Lasinio (NJL) models when the four-fermion coupling is sufficiently strong to induce spontaneous symmetry breaking in an otherwise conformal gauge theory. We therefore study the $SU(2)$ gauged NJL model with two adjoint fermions using lattice simulations. The model is in an infrared conformal phase at small NJL coupling while it displays a chirally broken phase at large NJL couplings. In the infrared conformal phase we find that the mass anomalous dimension varies with the NJL coupling reaching $γ_m \sim 1$ close to the chiral symmetry breaking transition, de facto making the present model the first explicit realization of the Ideal Walking scenario.

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arXiv2017

On reweighting for twisted boundary conditions

We consider the possibility of using reweighting techniques in order to correct for the breaking of unitarity when twisted boundary conditions are imposed on valence fermions in simulations of lattice gauge theories. We start by studying the properties of reweighting factors and their variances at tree-level. That leads us to the introduction of a factorization for the fermionic reweighting determinant. In the numerical, stochastic, implementation of the method, we find that the effect of reweighting is negligible in the case of large volumes but it is sizeable when the volumes are small and the twisting angles are large. More importantly, we find that for un-improved Wilson fermions, and in small volumes, the dependence of the critical quark mass on the twisting angle is quite pronounced and results in large violations of the continuum dispersion relation.

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arXiv2017

Sextet Model with Wilson Fermions

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.

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arXiv2017

Nambu-Jona-Lasinio model with Wilson fermions

We present a lattice study of a Nambu Jona-Lasinio (NJL) model using Wilson fermions. Four fermion interactions are a natural part of several extensions of the Standard Model, appearing as a low energy description of a more fundamental theory. In models of dynamical electroweak symmetry breaking they are used to endow the Standard Model fermions with masses. In infrared conformal models these interaction, when sufficiently strong, can alter the dynamics of the fixed point, turning the theory into a (near) conformal model with desirable features for model building. As a first step toward the nonperturbative study of these models, we study the phase space of the ungauged NJL model.

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arXiv2017

Beyond the Standard Model: Charting Fundamental Interactions via Lattice Simulations

After the discovery of the Higgs boson, the primary objective of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) experiments is to identify new physics beyond the Standard Model (SM). One of the most intriguing possibilities would be the discovery of non-perturbative phenomena in electroweak physics. In fact both ATLAS and CMS are providing crucial precision tests of the Higgs sector. Most strikingly, there is no conclusive evidence yet on whether the Higgs boson is elementary or composite. Lattice simulations can play a key role in advancing our theoretical understanding of strongly coupled gauge theories relevant for extensions of the SM and the LHC program. In this talk I will review the state of beyond the SM (BSM) lattice studies aimed to chart the phase diagram and to uncover the properties of strongly coupled gauge theories.

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arXiv2016

Composite Higgs Dynamics on the Lattice

We investigate the spectrum of the SU(2) gauge theory with $N_f$ = 2 flavors of fermions in the fundamental representation, in the continuum, using lattice simulations. This model provides a minimal template which has been used for different strongly coupled extensions of the Standard Model ranging from composite (Goldstone) Higgs models to intriguing types of dark matter candidates, such as the SIMPs. Here we will focus on the composite Goldstone Higgs paradigm, for which this model provides a minimal UV complete realization in terms of a new strong sector with fermionic matter. After introducing the relevant Lattice methods used in our simulations, we will discuss our numerical results. We show that this model features a SU(4)/Sp(4) $\sim$ SO(6)/SO(5) flavor symmetry breaking pattern, and estimate the value of its chiral condensate. Finally, we present our results for the mass spectrum of the lightest spin one and zero resonances, analogue to the QCD $ρ$, $a_1$, $σ$, $η'$, $a_0$ resonances, which are relevant for searches of new, exotic resonances at the LHC.

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arXiv2016

Rho meson decay width in SU(2) gauge theories with 2 fundamental flavours

SU(2) gauge theories with two quark flavours in the fundamental representation are among the most promising theories of composite dynamics describing the electroweak sector. Three out of five Goldstone bosons in these models become the longitudinal components of the W and Z bosons giving them mass. Like in QCD, we expect a spectrum of excitations which appear as resonances in vector boson scattering, in particular the vector resonance corresponding to the rho-meson in QCD. In this talk I will present the preliminary results of the first calculation of the rho-meson decay width in this theory, which is analogous to rho to two pions decay calculation in QCD. The results presented were calculated in a moving frame with total momentum (0,0,1) on two ensembles. Future plans include using 3 moving frames on a larger set of ensembles to extract the resonance parameters more reliably and also take the chiral and continuum limits.

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