arXiv subjects

Ruth S. Van de Water

Publications and source records attributed to Ruth S. Van de Water.

52 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2009

Lattice QCD inputs to the CKM unitarity triangle analysis

We perform a global fit to the CKM unitarity triangle using the latest experimental and theoretical constraints. Our emphasis is on the hadronic weak matrix elements that enter the analysis, which must be computed using lattice QCD or other nonperturbative methods. Realistic lattice QCD calculations which include the effects of the dynamical up, down, and strange quarks are now available for all of the standard inputs to the global fit. We therefore present lattice averages for all of the necessary hadronic weak matrix elements. We attempt to account for correlations between lattice QCD results in a reasonable but conservative manner: whenever there are reasons to believe that an error is correlated between two lattice calculations, we take the degree of correlation to be 100%. These averages are suitable for use as inputs both in the global CKM unitarity triangle fit and other phenomenological analyses. In order to illustrate the impact of the lattice averages, we make Standard Model predictions for the parameters BK, |Vcb|, and |Vub|/|Vcb|. We find a (2-3) sigma tension in the unitarity triangle, depending upon whether we use the inclusive or exclusive determination of |Vcb|. If we interpret the tension as a sign of new physics in either neutral kaon or B mixing, we find that the scenario with new physics in kaon-mixing is preferred by present data.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2008

Light pseudoscalar meson masses and decay constants from mixed action lattice QCD

We calculate the light pseudoscalar decay constants, f_pi and f_K, and their ratio using domain wall valence quarks and 2+1 flavors of dynamical staggered quarks. Use of the MILC gauge configurations allows us to simulate at several sea quark masses and spatial volumes, and with two lattice spacings. We study how well our numerical lattice data for light decay constants and meson masses is described by next-to-leading order SU(3) mixed action chiral perturbation theory and explain our strategy for the chiral and continuum extrapolation. Combining our result for f_K/f_pi with experimental measurements of pion and kaon leptonic decays allows a model-independent determination of |V_us|/|V_ud|; we find a preliminary value of |V_us|/|V_ud| = 0.2315(45)(7).

hep-lat↗

arXiv2008

Discretization effects and the scalar meson correlator in mixed-action lattice simulations

We study discretization effects in a mixed-action lattice theory with domain-wall valence quarks and Asqtad-improved staggered sea quarks. At the level of the chiral effective Lagrangian, discretization effects in the mixed-action theory give rise to two new parameters as compared to the lowest order Lagrangian for staggered fermions -- the residual quark mass, m_res, and the mixed valence-sea meson mass-splitting, Delta_mix. We find that the size of m_res is approximately four times smaller than our lightest valence quark mass on our coarser lattice spacing, and comparable to that of simulations by RBC and UKQCD. We also find that the size of Delta_mix is comparable to the smallest of the staggered meson taste-splittings measured by MILC. Because lattice artifacts are different in the valence and sea sectors of the mixed-action theory, they give rise to unitarity-violating effects that disappear in the continuum limit. Such effects are expected to be mild for many quantities of interest, but are significant in the case of the isovector scalar (a_0) correlator. Specifically, once m_res, Delta_mix, and two other parameters that can be determined from the light pseudoscalar spectrum are known, the two-particle intermediate state "bubble" contribution to the scalar correlator is completely predicted within mixed-action chiral perturbation theory (MAChPT). We find that the behavior of the scalar meson correlator is quantitatively consistent with the MAChPT prediction; this supports the claim that MAChPT describes the dominant unitarity-violating effects in the mixed-action theory and can be used to remove lattice artifacts and recover physical quantities.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2007

Heavy-Quark Masses from the Fermilab Method in Three-Flavor Lattice QCD

We report on heavy quark mass calculations using Fermilab heavy quarks. Lattice calculations of heavy-strange meson masses are combined with one-loop (automated) lattice perturbation theory to arrive at the quark mass. Mesons are constructed from Fermilab heavy quarks and staggered light quarks. We use the MILC ensembles at three lattice spacings and sea quark mass ratios of $m_{\rm u,d} / m_{\rm s} = 0.1$ to 0.4. Preliminary results for the bottom quark are given in the potential subtracted scheme.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2007

The kaon B-parameter from unquenched mixed action lattice QCD

We present a preliminary calculation of B_K using domain-wall valence quarks and 2+1 flavors of improved staggered sea quarks. Both the size of the residual quark mass, which measures the amount of chiral symmetry breaking, and of the mixed meson splitting Delta_mix, a measure of taste-symmetry breaking, show that discretization effects are under control in our mixed action lattice simulations. We show preliminary data for pseudoscalar meson masses, decay constants and B_K. We discuss general issues associated with the chiral extrapolation of lattice data, and, as an example, present a preliminary chiral and continuum extrapolation of f_pi. The quality of our data shows that the good chiral properties of domain-wall quarks, in combination with the light sea quark masses and multiple lattice spacings available with the MILC staggered configurations, will allow for a precise determination of B_K.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2007

Taste violations in the scalar correlator in mixed action simulations

We study the behavior of the isovector scalar correlator, which is particularly sensitive to lattice artifacts, using domain-wall valence quarks on a staggered sea (generated by the MILC collaboration). We analyze this according to the prediction from chiral perturbation theory determined by Prelovsek, which indicates that the leading unitarity violations come from taste breaking effects. We show that our data behaves in the way predicted by Prelovsek, thus verifying that the largest contribution to the violations of unitarity which arise at finite lattice spacing can be described by the mixed-action chiral perturbation theory.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2007

The Kaon B-parameter in Mixed Action Chiral Perturbation Theory

We calculate the kaon B-parameter, B_K, in chiral perturbation theory for a partially quenched, mixed action theory with Ginsparg-Wilson valence quarks and staggered sea quarks. We find that the resulting expression is similar to that in the continuum, and in fact has only two additional unknown parameters. At one-loop order, taste-symmetry violations in the staggered sea sector only contribute to flavor-disconnected diagrams by generating an O(a^2) shift to the masses of taste-singlet sea-sea mesons. Lattice discretization errors also give rise to an analytic term which shifts the tree-level value of B_K by an amount of O(a^2). This term, however, is not strictly due to taste-breaking, and is therefore also present in the expression for B_K for pure G-W lattice fermions. We also present a numerical study of the mixed B_K expression in order to demonstrate that both discretization errors and finite volume effects are small and under control on the MILC improved staggered lattices.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2006

Lambda-bar, lambda_1 and m_b in three-flavor (lattice) QCD

The heavy-quark expansion for inclusive semi-leptonic B decays introduces $\barΛ$ and $λ_1$, which are matrix elements in heavy-quark effective field theory. We review how they can be obtained from an analysis of the heavy quark mass dependence of heavy-light meson masses in lattice QCD. We present preliminary results for the bottom quark mass, $m_b$, using $\barΛ$ and $λ_1$ for the $B_s$ meson from a 2+1 sea-flavor unquenched calculation.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2006

Ginsparg-Wilson Pions Scattering in a Sea of Staggered Quarks

We calculate isospin 2 pion-pion scattering in chiral perturbation theory for a partially quenched, mixed action theory with Ginsparg-Wilson valence quarks and staggered sea quarks. We point out that for some scattering channels, the power-law volume dependence of two pion states in nonunitary theories such as partially quenched or mixed action QCD is identical to that of QCD. Thus one can extract infinite volume scattering parameters from mixed action simulations. We then determine the scattering length for both 2 and 2+1 sea quarks in the isospin limit. The scattering length, when expressed in terms of the pion mass and the decay constant measured on the lattice, has no contributions from mixed valence-sea mesons, thus it does not depend upon the parameter, C_Mix, that appears in the chiral Lagrangian of the mixed theory. In addition, the contributions which nominally arise from operators appearing in the mixed action O(a^2 m_q) Lagrangian exactly cancel when the scattering length is written in this form. This is in contrast to the scattering length expressed in terms of the bare parameters of the chiral Lagrangian, which explicitly exhibits all the sicknesses and lattice spacing dependence allowed by a partially quenched mixed action theory. These results hold for both 2 and 2+1 flavors of sea quarks.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2005

B -> D* l nu and B -> D l nu form factors in staggered chiral perturbation theory

We calculate the B -> D and B -> D* form factors at zero recoil in Staggered Chiral Perturbation Theory. We consider heavy-light mesons in which only the light (u, d, or s) quark is staggered; current lattice simulations generally use a highly improved action such as the Fermilab or NRQCD action for the heavy (b or c) quark. We work to lowest nontrivial order in the heavy quark expansion and to one-loop in the chiral expansion. We present results for a partially quenched theory with three sea quarks in which there are no mass degeneracies (the "1+1+1" theory) and for a partially quenched theory in which the u and d sea quark masses are equal (the "2+1" theory). We also present results for full (2+1) QCD, along with a numerical estimate of the size of staggered discretization errors. Finally, we calculate the finite volume corrections to the form factors and estimate their numerical size in current lattice simulations.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2005

B_K in Staggered Chiral Perturbation Theory

We calculate the kaon B-parameter, B_K, to next-to-leading order in staggered chiral perturbation theory. We find expressions for partially quenched QCD with three sea quarks, quenched QCD, and full QCD with m_u = m_d but not equal to m_s. We extend the usual power counting to include the effects of using perturbative (rather than non-perturbative) matching factors. Taste breaking enters through the O(a^2) terms in the effective action, through O(a^2) terms from the discretization of operators, and through the truncation of matching factors. These effects cause mixing with several additional operators, complicating the chiral and continuum extrapolations. In addition to the staggered expressions, we present B_K at next-to-leading order in continuum partially quenched chiral perturbation theory for N_f=3 sea quarks with m_u = m_d but not equal to m_s.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2005

The Kaon B-Parameter in Staggered Chiral Perturbation Theory

We calculate the kaon B-parameter, B_K, to next-to-leading order in staggered chiral perturbation theory. We extend the usual power counting to include the effects of using perturbative (rather than non-perturbative) matching factors. Taste breaking enters through the O(a^2) terms in the effective action, through mixing with higher-dimension operators, and through the truncation of matching factors. These effects cause mixing with several additional operators, complicating the chiral and continuum extrapolations. We summarize the results here; all details can be found in hep-lat/0507012.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2005

Staggered Chiral Perturbation Theory at Next-to-Leading Order

We study taste and Euclidean rotational symmetry violation for staggered fermions at nonzero lattice spacing using staggered chiral perturbation theory. We extend the staggered chiral Lagrangian to O(a^2 p^2), O(a^4) and O(a^2 m), the orders necessary for a full next-to-leading order calculation of pseudo-Goldstone boson masses and decay constants including analytic terms. We then calculate a number of SO(4) taste-breaking quantities, which involve only a small subset of these NLO operators. We predict relationships between SO(4) taste-breaking splittings in masses, pseudoscalar decay constants, and dispersion relations. We also find predictions for a few quantities that are not SO(4) breaking. All these results hold also for theories in which the fourth-root of the fermionic determinant is taken to reduce the number of quark tastes; testing them will therefore provide evidence for or against the validity of this trick.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2004

Next-to-Leading-Order Staggered Chiral Perturbation Theory

We have extended staggered chiral perturbation theory to O(a^2 p^2), O(a^4), and O(a^2 m), the orders necessary for a full next-to-leading order calculation of pseudo-Goldstone boson masses and decay constants including taste-symmetry violations. We present predictions relating SO(4) taste-breaking splittings in masses, pseudoscalar decay constants, and dispersion relations. These can be used to test the fourth-root trick.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2004

Unphysical Operators in Partially Quenched QCD

We point out that the chiral Lagrangian describing pseudo-Goldstone bosons in partially quenched QCD has one more four-derivative operator than that for unquenched QCD with three flavors. The new operator can be chosen to vanish in the unquenched sector of the partially quenched theory. Its contributions begin at next-to-leading order in the chiral expansion. At this order it contributes only to unphysical scattering processes, and we work out some examples. Its contributions to pseudo-Goldstone properties begin at next-to-next-to-leading order, and we determine their form. We also determine all the zero and two derivative operators in the $O(p^6)$ partially quenched chiral Lagrangian, finding three more than in unquenched QCD, and use these to give the general form of the analytic next-to-next-to-leading order contributions to the pseudo-Goldstone mass and decay constant. We discuss the general implications of such additional operators for the utility of partially quenched simulations

hep-lat↗

arXiv2003

Extending the Utility of Partially Quenched QCD

It has been proposed that partially quenched chiral perturbation theory can be used together with partially quenched lattice QCD to determine the low-energy constants of real QCD. We point out a complication of this approach and show how it can be resolved. Partial quenching changes the chiral symmetry group and introduces a new independent four-derivative operator. We explore the effects of this new operator. We describe tree-level scattering processes to which it contributes, and show how they can be used, in principle, to deterimine its unknown coefficient. We also calculate its lowest-order (one-loop) contribution to charged meson masses and decay constants. In addition, we present the form of the analytic next-to-next-to-leading order meson mass and decay constant corrections, which are needed for lattice fits.

hep-lat↗