arXiv subjects

Lorenzo Barca

Publications and source records attributed to Lorenzo Barca.

12 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Nucleon-sigma terms at $m_\pi=222 ~\rm MeV$ with a variational analysis from lattice QCD

Nucleon sigma terms are important for the decomposition of the nucleon mass and for searches for new physics beyond the Standard Model involving scalar interactions. A persistent tension between lattice QCD and phenomenological determinations may be due to uncontrolled excited-state contamination in lattice QCD analyses. In previous work at $m_\pi=429~\rm MeV$, we showed that this contamination is dominated by $N\sigma$ states and can be strongly suppressed with a variational analysis using $N$ and $N\sigma$ operators. In this talk, we present preliminary results at $m_\pi=222~\rm MeV$, where the $\sigma$ becomes unstable and decays into $\pi\pi$. We investigate whether the same small variational basis can remove the expected $N\pi\pi$ contamination through the overlap of the $N\sigma$ operator with these states.

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arXiv2026

Evidence of current-enhanced excited states in lattice QCD three-point functions

Excited-state contamination remains one of the leading sources of systematic uncertainty in the precise determination of hadron structure observables from lattice QCD. In this work, I present a general mechanism, motivated by meson dominance and implemented through the variational method, that identifies which excited states are enhanced by the choice of inserted current and kinematics. The argument is supported by numerical evidence and predictions from chiral perturbation theory across different hadronic channels, in particular in the nucleon sector, and provides both conceptual insight and practical guidance for controlling excited-state effects in hadron three-point function analyses.

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arXiv2025

Investigating a two-level algorithm for fermionic observables

We investigate the combination of a two-level sampling algorithm with distillation techniques to compute disconnected fermionic correlation functions. The method relies on a factorization of the quark propagator into domain-local contributions that depend only on the gauge fields within overlapping temporal regions, enabling independent submeasurements of each term through a two-level sampling strategy. The two-level estimators exhibit the expected $1/N_1^2$ scaling of the variance, up to exponential boundary effects, and achieve an exponential reduction of statistical errors at nearly the same computational cost as standard sampling. The method is tested on pure gauge ensembles, providing a controlled benchmark for its forthcoming application to dynamical QCD studies of glueball and isosinglet meson correlation functions.

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arXiv2025

Current-Enhanced Excited States in Lattice QCD Three-Point Functions

Excited-state contamination remains one of the leading sources of systematic uncertainty in the precise determination of hadron structure observables from lattice QCD. In this letter, we present a general argument, inspired by current-meson dominance and implemented through the variational method, to identify which excited states are enhanced by the choice of the inserted current and kinematics. The argument is supported by numerical evidence across multiple hadronic channels and provides both a conceptual understanding and practical guidance to account for excited-state effects in hadron three-point function analyses.

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arXiv2025

Update on two-level sampling for glueball observables in quenched QCD

We report our progress in combining a two-level sampling algorithm with distillation techniques for calculations of disconnected diagrams in quenched QCD. The simulations are performed on a single ensemble at $\beta=6.0$ and volume $V=16^3\times 64$, and at a pion mass of $m_\pi\approx 760~\mathrm{MeV}$.

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arXiv2024

Nucleon sigma terms with a variational analysis from Lattice QCD

We determine the nucleon-sigma terms from lattice QCD. We find that the dominant excited state contamination in the nucleon three-point function with a scalar current is due to the transition between the nucleon and a S-wave scattering state of a nucleon and a scalar (sigma) meson. In this proof-of-concept study, we analyse a single $N_f=3$ ensemble with the unphysically large pion mass $M_\pi=429$ MeV. Excited state contamination is substantially reduced compared to the standard method when employing nucleon-sigma type interpolating operators within a generalised eigenvector analysis.

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arXiv2024

Exponential Error Reduction for Glueball Calculations Using a Two-Level Algorithm in Pure Gauge Theory

This study explores the application of a two-level algorithm to enhance the signal-to-noise ratio of glueball calculations in four-dimensional $\mathrm{SU(3)}$ pure gauge theory. Our findings demonstrate that the statistical errors exhibit an exponential reduction, enabling reliable extraction of effective masses at distances where current standard methods would demand exponentially more samples. However, at shorter distances, standard methods prove more efficient due to a saturation of the variance reduction using the multi-level method. We discuss the physical distance at which the multi-level sampling is expected to outperform the standard algorithm, supported by numerical evidence across different lattice spacings and glueball channels. Additionally, we construct a variational basis comprising 35 Wilson loops up to length 12 and 5 smearing sizes each, presenting results for the first state in the spectrum for the scalar, pseudoscalar, and tensor channels.

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arXiv2024

Progress on nucleon transition matrix elements with a lattice QCD variational analysis

Nucleon weak matrix elements can be extracted from nucleon correlation functions with lattice QCD simulations. The signal-to-noise ratio prohibits the analysis at large source-sink separations and as a consequence, excited state contamination affects the extraction of the nucleon matrix elements. Chiral perturbation theory (ChPT) suggests that the dominant contamination in some of these channels is due to $Nπ$ states where the pion carries the same momentum of the current. In this talk, we report updates on the variational analysis with $qqq$-operators (nucleon-like) and $(qqq)(\bar{q}q)$-operators (nucleon-pion-like) where we report for the first time some preliminary results of $\langle Nπ| \mathcal{J}| N \rangle $, modulo some kinematic and volume factors, and we compare the results against ChPT. This pilot study is performed on a CLS ensemble with $N_f=3$, $m_π\approx 420~\mathrm{MeV}$, $a\approx 0.1~\mathrm{fm}$ and $T=2L\approx 4.8~\mathrm{fm}$.

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arXiv2023

Performance of two-level sampling for the glueball spectrum in pure gauge theory

The computation of the glueball spectrum is particularly challenging due to the rapid decay of the signal-to-noise ratio of the correlation functions. To address this issue, advanced techniques such as gauge link smearing and the variational method are commonly employed to identify the spectrum before the signal diminishes significantly. However, a significant improvement in the signal-to-noise ratio can be achieved by utilising multilevel sampling techniques. In this talk, we present a study of the glueball spectrum in pure gauge theory with a two-level algorithm. Specifically, we explore the relation between noise reduction and the various multilevel parameters, such as the width of the dynamical regions and the number of submeasurements.

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arXiv2023

Toward $N$ to $Nπ$ matrix elements from lattice QCD

QCD matrix elements of axial and vector currents between nucleons are required for the Monte Carlo reconstruction of the energy of neutrinos that are detected in long baseline oscillation experiments in the quasi-elastic regime. The cleanest approach for determining the axial matrix elements is lattice QCD. However, the extraction of these from the corresponding correlation functions is complicated by very large excited state contributions, that are related to transitions from the nucleon to a nucleon-pion pair. In this pilot study with a pion mass $m_π= 429~ \mathrm{MeV}$, we demonstrate for the first time that these contributions can be removed by including five-(anti)quark operators into the basis of interpolators used to create the nucleon. The same techniques will be needed to compute transition matrix elements between the nucleon and nucleon-pion scattering states that are relevant in the resonance production regime.

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arXiv2021

Investigating $\mathbf{N \to Nπ}$ axial matrix elements

Excited state contamination is one of the most challenging sources of systematics to tackle in the determination of nucleon matrix elements and form factors. The signal-to-noise problem prevents one from considering large source-sink time separations for the three-point functions to ensure ground state dominance. Instead, relevant analyses consider multi-state fits. Excited state contributions are particularly significant in the axial channel. In this work, we confront the problem directly. Since the major source of contamination is understood to be related to pion production, we consider three-point correlation functions with a nucleon operator at the source and a nucleon-pion interpolating operator at the sink, which allows studies of $N \to Nπ$ matrix elements. We discuss the construction of these three-point correlation functions and we solve the generalized eigenvalue problem (GEVP) using different sets of nucleon and nucleon-pion interpolators. The analysis is performed on the CLS ensemble A653 with $m_π\approx 420$ MeV. Results were generated with valence quark masses corresponding to $m_π\approx 1750$ MeV and $m_π\approx 420$ MeV.

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arXiv2020

Nucleon axial structure from lattice QCD

We present a new analysis method that allows one to understand and model excited state contributions in observables that are dominated by a pion pole. We apply this method to extract axial and (induced) pseudoscalar nucleon isovector form factors, which satisfy the constraints due to the partial conservation of the axial current up to expected discretization effects. Effective field theory predicts that the leading contribution to the (induced) pseudoscalar form factor originates from an exchange of a virtual pion, and thus exhibits pion pole dominance. Using our new method, we can recover this behavior directly from lattice data. The numerical analysis is based on a large set of ensembles generated by the CLS effort, including physical pion masses, large volumes (with up to $96^3 \times 192$ sites and $L m_π= 6.4$), and lattice spacings down to $0.039 \, \text{fm}$, which allows us to take all the relevant limits. We find that some observables are much more sensitive to the choice of parametrization of the form factors than others. On the one hand, the $z$-expansion leads to significantly smaller values for the axial dipole mass than the dipole ansatz ($M_A^{\text{$z$-exp}}=1.02(10) \, \text{GeV}$ versus $M_A^{\text{dipole}} = 1.31(8) \, \text{GeV}$). On the other hand, we find that the result for the induced pseudoscalar coupling at the muon capture point is almost independent of the choice of parametrization ($g_P^{\star \ \text{$z$-exp}} = 8.68(45)$ and $g_P^{\star \ \text{dipole}} = 8.30(24)$), and is in good agreement with both, chiral perturbation theory predictions and experimental measurement via ordinary muon capture. We also determine the axial coupling constant $g_A$.

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