arXiv subjects

Francesco Knechtli

Publications and source records attributed to Francesco Knechtli.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

arXiv2016

The Wilson Flow and the finite temperature phase transition

We consider the determination of the finite temperature phase transition in the Yang--Mills SU(3) gauge theory. We compute the difference of the spatial and temporal energy density at a physical Wilson flow time. This difference is zero in the confined phase and becomes non zero in the deconfined phase. We locate the phase transition by using a new technique based on an exponential smoothing spline. This method is an alternative to the determination of the phase transition based on the Polyakov loop susceptibility and can also be used with dynamical fermions.

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arXiv2016

Extra-dimensional models on the lattice

In this review we summarize the ongoing effort to study extra-dimensional gauge theories with lattice simulations. In these models the Higgs field is identified with extra-dimensional components of the gauge field. The Higgs potential is generated by quantum corrections and is protected from divergencies by the higher dimensional gauge symmetry. Dimensional reduction to four dimensions can occur through compactification or localization. Gauge-Higgs unification models are often studied using perturbation theory. Numerical lattice simulations are used to go beyond these perturbative expectations and to include non-perturbative effects. We describe the known perturbative predictions and their fate in the strongly-coupled regime for various extra-dimensional models.

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arXiv2016

Towards string breaking with 2+1 dynamical fermions using the stochastic LapH method

We investigate the use of stochastically estimated light quark propagators in correlation functions involving a static color source. To this end we compute the static-light meson pseudoscalar correlation function in the stochastic LapH framework, using an ensemble of $N_f= 2+1$ gauge configurations generated through the CLS effort. We extract the static-light as well as the static-strange mass with good statistical precision. Together with the static potential, we obtain a preliminary estimate for the expected mixing region.

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arXiv2015

Perturbative versus non-perturbative decoupling of heavy quarks

We simulate a theory with $N_f=2$ heavy quarks of mass $M$. At energies much smaller than $M$ the heavy quarks decouple and the theory can be described by an effective theory which is a pure gauge theory to leading order in $1/M$. We present results for the mass dependence of ratios such as $t_0(M)/t_0(0)$. We compute these ratios from simulations and compare them to the perturbative prediction. The latter relies on a factorisation formula for the ratios which is valid to leading order in $1/M$.

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arXiv2015

Non-Perturbative Gauge-Higgs Unification in Five Dimensions

We study the phase diagram and mass spectrum of an $SU(2)$ Gauge-Higgs Unification scenario on a five-dimensional orbifold.We observe spontaneous symmetry breaking within the Higgs phase of the theory and, in the vicinity of a newly discovered phase, we find that the ratio of Higgs to gauge boson masses takes a Standard Model-like value. Precisely in this region of the phase diagram, we observe dimensional reduction via localisation.

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arXiv2015

Isospin Effects by Mass Reweighting

Most of today's lattice simulations are performed in the isospin symmetric limit of the light quark sector. Mass reweighting is a technique to include effects of isospin breaking in the sea quarks at moderate numerical cost. We will give a summary of our recent results on fine lattices with light quark masses and will show how light quark masses can be extracted by introducing suitable tuning conditions for the bare mass parameters. In general the reweighting factor introduces additional fluctuations and thus increases the statistical uncertainties. In the case of isospin reweighting this factor is a ratio of fermion determinants. The stochastic evaluation of the determinants potentially leads to stochastic noise in observables. We show the quark mass and the volume dependence of these fluctuations.

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arXiv2015

Five-Dimensional Gauge-Higgs Unification: A Standard Model-Like Spectrum

We study the viability of five-dimensional gauge theories as candidates for the origin of the Higgs field and its mechanism for spontaneous symmetry breaking. Within the framework of lattice field theory, we consider the simplest model of an $SU(2)$ gauge theory. We construct this theory on a five-dimensional orbifold which explicitly breaks the gauge symmetry to $U(1)$ at the fixed points of the orbifold. Using anisotropic gauge couplings, we find that this theory exhibits three distinct phases which we label as confined, Higgs and hybrid. Within the Higgs phase, close to the Higgs-hybrid phase transition, we find that the ratio of the Higgs to gauge boson masses takes Standard Model-like values. Precisely in this region of the phase diagram, we find dimensional reduction via localisation.

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arXiv2014

Physical and cut-off effects of heavy sea quarks

We simulate a theory with two dynamical O($a$) improved Wilson quarks whose mass $M$ ranges from a factor eight up to a factor two below the charm quark mass and at three values of the lattice spacing ranging from 0.066 to 0.034 fm. This theory is a prototype to study the decoupling of heavy quarks. We measure the mass and cut-off dependence of ratios of gluonic observables defined from the Wilson flow or the static potential. The size of the 1/$M$ corrections can be determined and disentangled from the lattice artifacts. The difference with the pure gauge theory is at the percent level when two quarks with a mass of the charm quark are present.

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arXiv2014

Gauge and Higgs Boson Masses from an Extra Dimension

We present novel calculations of the mass hierarchy of the $SU(2)$ pure gauge theory on a space-time lattice with an orbifolded fifth dimension. This theory has three parameters; the gauge coupling $β$, the anisotropy $γ$, which is a measure of the ratio of the lattice spacing in the four dimensions to that in the fifth dimension, and the extent of the extra dimension $N_{5}$. Using a large basis of scalar and vector operators we explore in detail the spectrum along the $γ= 1$ line, and for the first time we investigate the spectrum for $γ\neq 1$.

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arXiv2014

On the effects of heavy sea quarks at low energies

We present a factorisation formula for the dependence of light hadron masses and low energy hadronic scales on the mass $M$ of a heavy quark: apart from an overall factor $Q$, ratios such as $r_0(M)/r_0(0)$ are computable in perturbation theory at large $M$. The mass-independent factor $Q$ is obtained from the theory in the limit $M\to0$ and the decoupled theory with the heavy quark removed. The perturbation theory part is stable concerning different loop orders and our non-perturbative results match on quantitatively to the perturbative prediction. Upon taking ratios of different hadronic scales at the same mass, the perturbative function drops out and the ratios are given by the decoupled theory up to $M^{-2}$ corrections. Our present numerical results are obtained in a model calculation where there are no light quarks and a heavy doublet of quarks is decoupled. They are limited to masses a factor two below the charm. This is not large enough to see the $M^{-2}$ scaling predicted by the theory, but it is sufficient to verify - in the continuum limit - that the sea quark effects of quarks with masses around the charm mass are very small.

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arXiv2014

One flavor mass reweighting: foundations

Reweighting is not a new method in lattice QCD, but a comprehensive analysis is missing in the literature. We close this gap by presenting: (i) a proof of an integral representation of the complex determinant of a complex matrix, (ii) a method to control the stochastic error of its Monte Carlo estimation, (iii) expansions of the stochastic error and the ensemble fluctuations of the one flavor reweighting factor. Based on (iii) we present a detailed scaling analysis and optimized reweighting strategies. As an application we analyze the ensemble fluctuations of the reweighting factor corresponding to the sea contribution to isospin splitting and predict at physical quark masses a standard deviation of +-20%.

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arXiv2014

Progress in Gauge-Higgs Unification on the Lattice

We study a five-dimensional pure SU(2) gauge theory formulated on the orbifold and discretized on the lattice by means of Monte Carlo simulations. The gauge symmetry is explicitly broken to U(1) at the orbifold boundaries. The action is the Wilson plaquette action with a modified weight for the boundary U(1) plaquettes. We study the phase transition and present results for the spectrum and the shape of the static potential on the boundary. The latter is sensitive to the presence of a massive Z-boson, in good agreement with the directly measured Z-boson mass. The results may support an alternative view of the lattice orbifold (stemming from its mean-field study) as a 5d bosonic superconductor.

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arXiv2014

Non-perturbative Gauge-Higgs Unification: Symmetries and Order Parameters

We consider pure SU(N) gauge theories defined on an orbifold lattice, analogous to the S^1/Z_2 gauge theory orbifolds of the continuum, which according to the perturbative analysis do not have a Higgs phase. Non-perturbatively the conclusion for N even is the opposite, namely that spontaneous symmetry breaking does take place and some of the gauge bosons become massive. We interpret this new, non-perturbative phenomenon both mathematically and physically.

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arXiv2014

One flavor mass reweighting in lattice QCD

One flavor mass reweighting can be used in lattice QCD computations to fine tune the quark masses to their physical values. We present a new method that utilizes an unbiased stochastic estimation of the one flavor determinant. The stochastic estimation is based on the integral representation of the determinant of a complex matrix, which we prove. In contrast to other methods it can also be applied in situations where the determinant has a complex phase. The stochastic error is controlled by determinant factorizations based on mass interpolation and Schur decomposition. As an example of an application we demonstrate how the method can be used to tune the up-down quark mass difference.

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arXiv2013

Application of Domain Decomposition to the Evaluation of Fermion Determinant Ratios

We analyze the fluctuations in the case of mass reweighting for N_f=2 Wilson fermions. We use a domain decomposition factorization of the fermion determinant. Ratios of determinants are estimated stochastically. We study the stochastic and the ensemble fluctuations as a function of the volume V and the mass shift Delta m. With our result it is possible to estimate the cost and the effectiveness of mass reweighting. In addition we introduce a stochastic estimation for the one flavor case without using the square root.

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arXiv2013

Fermions as Global Correction: the QCD Case

It is widely believed that the fermion determinant cannot be treated in global acceptance-rejection steps of gauge link configurations that differ in a large fraction of the links. However, for exact factorizations of the determinant that separate the ultraviolet from the infrared modes of the Dirac operator it is known that the latter show less variation under changes of the gauge field compared to the former. Using a factorization based on recursive domain decomposition allows for a hierarchical algorithm that starts with pure gauge updates of the links within the domains and ends after a number of filters with a global acceptance-rejection step. Ratios of determinants have to be treated stochastically and we construct techniques to reduce the noise. We find that the global acceptance rate is high on moderate lattice sizes and demonstrate the effectiveness of the hierarchical filter.

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arXiv2012

Higgs mechanism near the 5d bulk phase transition

We present a non-perturbative model of Gauge-Higgs Unification. We consider a five-dimensional pure SU(2) gauge theory with orbifold boundary conditions along the fifth dimension, such that the symmetry is reduced to U(1) at the fixed points of the orbifold action. The spectrum on the four-dimensional boundary hyperplanes includes, apart from the U(1) gauge boson, also a complex scalar, interpreted as a simplified version of the Standard Model Higgs field. The gauge theory is defined on a Euclidean lattice which is anisotropic in the extra dimension. Using the boundary Wilson Loop and the observable that represents the scalar and in the context of an expansion in fluctuations around a Mean-Field background, we show that a) near the bulk phase transition the model tends to reduce dimensionally to a four-dimensional gauge-scalar theory, b) the boundary U(1) gauge symmetry breaks spontaneously due to the broken translational invariance along the fifth dimension, c) it is possible to construct renormalized trajectories on the phase diagram along which the Higgs mass is constant as the lattice spacing is varied, d) by taking a continuum limit in the regime where the anisotropy parameter is small, it is possible to predict the existence of a Z' state with a mass around 1 TeV.

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arXiv2012

Gauge-Higgs Unification on the Lattice

The simplest Gauge-Higgs Unification model is a five-dimensional SU(2) gauge theory compactified on the S^1/Z_2 orbifold, such that on the four-dimensional boundaries of space-time there is an unbroken U(1) symmetry and a complex scalar, the latter identified with the Higgs boson. Perturbatively the U(1) remains spontaneously unbroken. Earlier lattice Monte Carlo simulations revealed however that the spontaneous breaking of the U(1) does occur at the non-perturbative level. Here, we verify the Monte Carlo result via an analytical lattice Mean-Field expansion.

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