arXiv subjects

Pavlos Vranas

Publications and source records attributed to Pavlos Vranas.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2019

Lattice QCD Determination of $g_A$

The nucleon axial coupling, $g_A$, is a fundamental property of protons and neutrons, dictating the strength with which the weak axial current of the Standard Model couples to nucleons, and hence, the lifetime of a free neutron. The prominence of $g_A$ in nuclear physics has made it a benchmark quantity with which to calibrate lattice QCD calculations of nucleon structure and more complex calculations of electroweak matrix elements in one and few nucleon systems. There were a number of significant challenges in determining $g_A$, notably the notorious exponentially-bad signal-to-noise problem and the requirement for hundreds of thousands of stochastic samples, that rendered this goal more difficult to obtain than originally thought. I will describe the use of an unconventional computation method, coupled with "ludicrously'" fast GPU code, access to publicly available lattice QCD configurations from MILC and access to leadership computing that have allowed these challenges to be overcome resulting in a determination of $g_A$ with 1% precision and all sources of systematic uncertainty controlled. I will discuss the implications of these results for the convergence of $SU(2)$ Chiral Perturbation theory for nucleons, as well as prospects for further improvements to $g_A$ (sub-percent precision, for which we have preliminary results) which is part of a more comprehensive application of lattice QCD to nuclear physics. This is particularly exciting in light of the new CORAL supercomputers coming online, Sierra and Summit, for which our lattice QCD codes achieve a machine-to-machine speed up over Titan of an order of magnitude.

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arXiv2019

The Stochastic Feynman-Hellmann Method

The Feynman-Hellmann method, as implemented by Bouchard et al. [1612.06963], was recently employed successfully to determine the nucleon axial charge. A limitation of the method was the restriction to a single operator and a single momentum during the computation of each "Feynman- Hellmann" propagator. By using stochastic techniques to estimate the all-to-all propagator, we relax this constraint and demonstrate the successful implementation of this new method. We show reproduction of the axial charge on a test ensemble and non-zero momentum transfer points of the axial and vector form factors.

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arXiv2019

Short Range Operator Contributions to $0νββ$ decay from LQCD

The search for neutrinoless double beta decay of nuclei is believed to be one of the most promising means to search for new physics. Observation of this very rare nuclear process, which violates Lepton Number conservation, would imply the neutrino sector has a Majorana mass component and may also provide an explanation for the universe matter-antimatter asymmetry of the universe. In the case where a heavy intermediate particle is exchanged in this process, QCD contributions from short range interactions become relevant and the calculation of matrix elements with four-quark operators becomes necessary. In these proceedings we will discuss our current progress in the calculation of these four-quark operators from LQCD.

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arXiv2019

Progress in Multibaryon Spectroscopy

Anchoring the nuclear interaction in QCD is a long-outstanding problem in nuclear physics. While the lattice community has made enormous progress in mesonic physics and single nucleon physics, continuum-limit physical-point multi-nucleon physics has remained out of reach. I will review CalLat's strategy for multi-nucleon spectroscopy and our latest results.

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arXiv2019

Nonperturbative investigations of SU(3) gauge theory with eight dynamical flavors

We present our lattice studies of SU(3) gauge theory with $N_f$ = 8 degenerate fermions in the fundamental representation. Using nHYP-smeared staggered fermions we study finite-temperature transitions on lattice volumes as large as $L^3 \times N_t = 48^3 \times 24$, and the zero-temperature composite spectrum on lattice volumes up to $64^3 \times 128$. The spectrum indirectly indicates spontaneous chiral symmetry breaking, but finite-temperature transitions with fixed $N_t \leq 24$ enter a strongly coupled lattice phase as the fermion mass decreases, which prevents a direct confirmation of spontaneous chiral symmetry breaking in the chiral limit. In addition to the connected spectrum we focus on the lightest flavor-singlet scalar particle. We find it to be degenerate with the pseudo-Goldstone states down to the lightest masses reached so far by non-perturbative lattice calculations. Using the same lattice approach, we study the behavior of the composite spectrum when the number of light fermions is changed from eight to four. A heavy flavor-singlet scalar in the 4-flavor theory affirms the contrast between QCD-like dynamics and the low-energy behavior of the 8-flavor theory.

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arXiv2018

Simulating the weak death of the neutron in a femtoscale universe with near-Exascale computing

The fundamental particle theory called Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD) dictates everything about protons and neutrons, from their intrinsic properties to interactions that bind them into atomic nuclei. Quantities that cannot be fully resolved through experiment, such as the neutron lifetime (whose precise value is important for the existence of light-atomic elements that make the sun shine and life possible), may be understood through numerical solutions to QCD. We directly solve QCD using Lattice Gauge Theory and calculate nuclear observables such as neutron lifetime. We have developed an improved algorithm that exponentially decreases the time-to solution and applied it on the new CORAL supercomputers, Sierra and Summit. We use run-time autotuning to distribute GPU resources, achieving 20% performance at low node count. We also developed optimal application mapping through a job manager, which allows CPU and GPU jobs to be interleaved, yielding 15% of peak performance when deployed across large fractions of CORAL.

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arXiv2018

Gauged And Ungauged: A Nonperturbative Test

We study the thermodynamics of the `ungauged' D0-brane matrix model by Monte Carlo simulation. Our results appear to be consistent with the conjecture by Maldacena and Milekhin.

hep-th↗

arXiv2018

A percent-level determination of the nucleon axial coupling from Quantum Chromodynamics

The $\textit{axial coupling of the nucleon}$, $g_A$, is the strength of its coupling to the $\textit{weak}$ axial current of the Standard Model of particle physics, in much the same way as the electric charge is the strength of the coupling to the electromagnetic current. This axial coupling dictates the rate at which neutrons decay to protons, the strength of the attractive long-range force between nucleons and other features of nuclear physics. Precision tests of the Standard Model in nuclear environments require a quantitative understanding of nuclear physics rooted in Quantum Chromodynamics, a pillar of the Standard Model. The prominence of $g_A$ makes it a benchmark quantity to determine theoretically - a difficult task because quantum chromodynamics is non-perturbative, precluding known analytical methods. Lattice Quantum Chromodynamics provides a rigorous, non-perturbative definition of quantum chromodynamics that can be implemented numerically. It has been estimated that a precision of two percent would be possible by 2020 if two challenges are overcome: contamination of $g_A$ from excited states must be controlled in the calculations and statistical precision must be improved markedly. Here we report a calculation of $g_A^{QCD} = 1.271\pm0.013$, using an unconventional method inspired by the Feynman-Hellmann theorem that overcomes these challenges.

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arXiv2018

Toward Holographic Reconstruction of Bulk Geometry from Lattice Simulations

A black hole described in $SU(N)$ gauge theory consists of $N$ D-branes. By separating one of the D-branes from others and studying the interaction between them, the black hole geometry can be probed. In order to obtain quantitative results, we employ the lattice Monte Carlo simulation. As a proof of the concept, we perform an explicit calculation in the matrix model dual to the black zero-brane in type IIA string theory. We demonstrate this method actually works in the high temperature region, where the stringy correction is large. We argue possible dual gravity interpretations.

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arXiv2017

Nucleon axial coupling from Lattice QCD

We present state-of-the-art results from a lattice QCD calculation of the nucleon axial coupling, $g_A$, using Möbius Domain-Wall fermions solved on the dynamical $N_f = 2 + 1 + 1$ HISQ ensembles after they are smeared using the gradient-flow algorithm. Relevant three-point correlation functions are calculated using a method inspired by the Feynman-Hellmann theorem, and demonstrate significant improvement in signal for fixed stochastic samples. The calculation is performed at five pion masses of $m_π\sim \{400, 350, 310, 220, 130\}$~MeV, three lattice spacings of $a\sim\{0.15, 0.12, 0.09\}$~fm, and we do a dedicated volume study with $m_πL\sim\{3.22, 4.29, 5.36\}$. Control over all relevant sources of systematic uncertainty are demonstrated and quantified. We achieve a preliminary value of $g_A = 1.285(17)$, with a relative uncertainty of 1.33\%.

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arXiv2017

Calm Multi-Baryon Operators

Outstanding problems in nuclear physics require input and guidance from lattice QCD calculations of few baryons systems. However, these calculations suffer from an exponentially bad signal-to-noise problem which has prevented a controlled extrapolation to the physical point. The variational method has been applied very successfully to two-meson systems, allowing for the extraction of the two-meson states very early in Euclidean time through the use of improved single hadron operators. The sheer numerical cost of using the same techniques in two-baryon systems has been prohibitive. We present an alternate strategy which offers some of the same advantages as the variational method while being significantly less numerically expensive. We first use the Matrix Prony method to form an optimal linear combination of single baryon interpolating fields generated from the same source and different sink interpolators. Very early in Euclidean time this linear combination is numerically free of excited state contamination, so we coin it a calm baryon. This calm baryon operator is then used in the construction of the two-baryon correlation functions. To test this method, we perform calculations on the WM/JLab iso-clover gauge configurations at the SU(3) flavor symmetric point with mπ $\sim$ 800 MeV --- the same configurations we have previously used for the calculation of two-nucleon correlation functions. We observe the calm baryon removes the excited state contamination from the two-nucleon correlation function to as early a time as the single-nucleon is improved, provided non-local (displaced nucleon) sources are used. For the local two-nucleon correlation function (where both nucleons are created from the same space-time location) there is still improvement, but there is significant excited state contamination in the region the single calm baryon displays no excited state contamination.

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arXiv2017

Möbius domain-wall fermions on gradient-flowed dynamical HISQ ensembles

We report on salient features of a mixed lattice QCD action using valence Möbius domain-wall fermions solved on the dynamical $N_f=2+1+1$ HISQ ensembles generated by the MILC Collaboration. The approximate chiral symmetry properties of the valence fermions are shown to be significantly improved by utilizing the gradient-flow scheme to first smear the HISQ configurations. The greater numerical cost of the Möbius domain-wall inversions is mitigated by the highly efficient QUDA library optimized for NVIDIA GPU accelerated compute nodes. We have created an interface to this optimized QUDA solver in Chroma. We provide tuned parameters of the action and performance of QUDA using ensembles with the lattice spacings $a \simeq \{0.15, 0.12, 0.09\}$ fm and pion masses $m_π\simeq \{310, 220,130\}$ MeV. We have additionally generated two new ensembles with $a\sim0.12$ fm and $m_π\sim\{400, 350\}$ MeV. With a fixed flow-time of $t_{gf}=1$ in lattice units, the residual chiral symmetry breaking of the valence fermions is kept below 10\% of the light quark mass on all ensembles, $m_{res} \lesssim 0.1\times m_l$, with moderate values of the fifth dimension $L_5$ and a domain-wall height $M_5 \leq 1.3$. As a benchmark calculation, we perform a continuum, infinite volume, physical pion and kaon mass extrapolation of $F_{K^\pm}/F_{π^\pm}$ and demonstrate our results are independent of flow-time, and consistent with the FLAG determination of this quantity at the level of less than one standard deviation.

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arXiv2017

An accurate calculation of the nucleon axial charge with lattice QCD

We report on a lattice QCD calculation of the nucleon axial charge, $g_A$, using Möbius Domain-Wall fermions solved on the dynamical $N_f=2+1+1$ HISQ ensembles after they are smeared using the gradient-flow algorithm. The calculation is performed with three pion masses, $m_π\sim\{310,220,130\}$ MeV. Three lattice spacings ($a\sim\{0.15,0.12,0.09\}$ fm) are used with the heaviest pion mass, while the coarsest two spacings are used on the middle pion mass and only the coarsest spacing is used with the near physical pion mass. On the $m_π\sim220$ MeV, $a\sim0.12$ fm point, a dedicated volume study is performed with $m_πL \sim \{3.22,4.29,5.36\}$. Using a new strategy motivated by the Feynman-Hellmann Theorem, we achieve a precise determination of $g_A$ with relatively low statistics, and demonstrable control over the excited state, continuum, infinite volume and chiral extrapolation systematic uncertainties, the latter of which remains the dominant uncertainty. Our final determination at 2.6\% total uncertainty is $g_A = 1.278(21)(26)$, with the first uncertainty including statistical and systematic uncertainties from fitting and the second including model selection systematics related to the chiral and continuum extrapolation. The largest reduction of the second uncertainty will come from a greater number of pion mass points as well as more precise lattice QCD results near the physical pion mass.

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arXiv2016

Neutrinoless double beta decay from lattice QCD

While the discovery of non-zero neutrino masses is one of the most important accomplishments by physicists in the past century, it is still unknown how and in what form these masses arise. Lepton number-violating neutrinoless double beta decay is a natural consequence of Majorana neutrinos and many BSM theories, and many experimental efforts are involved in the search for these processes. Understanding how neutrinoless double beta decay would manifest in nuclear environments is key for understanding any observed signals. In these proceedings we present an overview of a set of one- and two-body matrix elements relevant for experimental searches for neutrinoless double beta decay, describe the role of lattice QCD calculations, and present preliminary lattice QCD results.

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arXiv2016

Supergravity from D0-brane Quantum Mechanics

The gauge/gravity duality conjecture claims the equivalence between gauge theory and superstring/M-theory. In particular, the one-dimensional gauge theory of D0-branes and type IIA string theory should agree on properties of hot black holes. Type IIA superstring theory predicts the leading $N^2$ behavior of the black hole internal energy to be $E/N^2=a_0T^{14/5}+ a_1T^{23/5}+a_2T^{29/5}+\cdots$ with the supergravity prediction $a_0=7.41$ and unknown coefficients $a_1$, $a_2$, $\ldots$ associated with stringy corrections. In order to test this duality we perform a lattice study of the gauge theory and extract a continuum, large-$N$ value of $a_0=7.4\pm 0.5$---the first direct confirmation of the supergravity prediction at finite temperature---and constrain the stringy corrections ($a_1=-9.7\pm2.2$ and $a_2=5.6\pm1.8$). We also study the sub-leading $1/N^2$ corrections to the internal energy.

hep-th↗

arXiv2016

Precision lattice test of the gauge/gravity duality at large-$N$

We pioneer a systematic, large-scale lattice simulation of D0-brane quantum mechanics. The large-$N$ and continuum limits of the gauge theory are taken for the first time at various temperatures $0.4 \leq T \leq 1.0$. As a way to directly test the gauge/gravity duality conjecture we compute the internal energy of the black hole directly from the gauge theory and reproduce the coefficient of the supergravity result $E/N^2=7.41T^{14/5}$. This is the first confirmation of the supergravity prediction for the internal energy of a black hole at finite temperature coming directly from the dual gauge theory. We also constrain stringy corrections to the internal energy.

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arXiv2016

Strongly interacting dynamics and the search for new physics at the LHC

We present results for the spectrum of a strongly interacting SU(3) gauge theory with $N_f = 8$ light fermions in the fundamental representation. Carrying out non-perturbative lattice calculations at the lightest masses and largest volumes considered to date, we confirm the existence of a remarkably light singlet scalar particle. We explore the rich resonance spectrum of the 8-flavor theory in the context of the search for new physics beyond the standard model at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). Connecting our results to models of dynamical electroweak symmetry breaking, we estimate the vector resonance mass to be about 2 TeV with a width of roughly 450 GeV, and predict additional resonances with masses below ~3 TeV.

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arXiv2015

Nuclear Parity Violation from Lattice QCD

The electroweak interaction at the level of quarks and gluons are well understood from precision measurements in high energy collider experiments. Relating these fundamental parameters to Hadronic Parity Violation in nuclei however remains an outstanding theoretical challenge. One of the most interesting observables in this respect is the parity violating hadronic neutral current: it is hard to measure in collider experiments and is thus the least constrained observable of the Standard Model. Precision measurements of parity violating transitions in nuclei can help to improve these constraints. In these systems however, the weak interaction is masked by effects of the seven orders of magnitude stronger non-perturbative strong interaction. Therefore, in order to relate experimental measurements of the parity violating pion-nucleon couplings to the fundamental Lagrangian of the SM, these non-perturbative effects have to be well understood. In this paper, we are going to present a Lattice QCD approach for computing the $ΔI{=}2$ parity violating matrix element in proton proton scattering. This process does not involve disconnected diagrams in the isospin symmetric limit and is thus a perfect testbed for studying the feasibility of the more involved calculation of the parity violating pion-nucleon coupling.

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