arXiv subjects

S. J. Hands

Publications and source records attributed to S. J. Hands.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2010

Polarised correlators at finite temperature

QCD undergoes a deconfining transition at high temperature to a "quark-gluon plasma" phase where hadrons may become unbound. In this work, meson correlation functions at non-zero momentum are studied both in the confined and plasma phases using the Maximum Entropy Method. In particular, both the longitudinal and transverse modes of the vector correlation functions are considered. Only in the case of light quarks in the plasma phase, we find that both longitudinal and transverse spectral functions have a non-zero intercept at zero energy.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2005

The QCD equation of state for two flavours at non-zero chemical potential

We present results of a simulation of 2 flavour QCD on a $16^3\times4$ lattice using p4-improved staggered fermions with bare quark mass $m/T=0.4$. Derivatives of the thermodynamic grand canonical partition function $Z(V,T,μ_u,μ_d)$ with respect to chemical potentials $μ_{u,d}$ for different quark flavours are calculated up to sixth order, enabling estimates of the pressure and the quark number density as well as the chiral condensate and various susceptibilities as functions of $μ_{u,d}$ via Taylor series expansion. Results are compared to high temperature perturbation theory as well as a hadron resonance gas model. We also analyze baryon as well as isospin fluctuations and discuss the relation to the chiral critical point in the QCD phase diagram. We moreover discuss the dependence of the heavy quark free energy on the chemical potential.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2005

QCD at non-zero temperature and density from the lattice

The study of systems as diverse as the cores of neutron stars and heavy-ion collision experiments requires the understanding of the phase structure of QCD at non-zero temperature, T, and chemical potential, mu_q. We review some of the difficulties of performing lattice simulations of QCD with non-zero mu_q, and outline the re-weighting method used to overcome this problem. This method is used to determine the critical endpoint of QCD in the (mu_q,T) plane. We study the pressure and quark number susceptibility at small mu_q.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2005

Thermodynamics of Two Flavor QCD to Sixth Order in Quark Chemical Potential

We present results of a simulation of 2-flavor QCD on a 4x16^3 lattice using p4-improved staggered fermions with bare quark mass m/T=0.4. Derivatives of the thermodynamic grand canonical partition function Z(V,T,mu_u,mu_d) with respect to chemical potentials mu_(u,d) for different quark flavors are calculated up to sixth order, enabling estimates of the pressure and the quark number density as well as the chiral condensate and various susceptibilities as functions of mu_q = (mu_u + mu_d)/2 via Taylor series expansion. Furthermore, we analyze baryon as well as isospin fluctuations and discuss the relation between the radius of convergence of the Taylor series and the chiral critical point in the QCD phase diagram. We argue that bulk thermodynamic observables do not, at present, provide direct evidence for the existence of a chiral critical point in the QCD phase diagram. Results are compared to high temperature perturbation theory as well as a hadron resonance gas model.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2004

Fluctuations in the vicinity of the phase transition line for two flavor QCD

We study the susceptibilities of quark number, isospin number and electric charge in numerical simulations of lattice QCD at high temperature and density. We discuss the equation of state for 2 flavor QCD at non-zero temperature and density. Derivatives of $\ln Z$ with respect to quark chemical potential $(μ_q)$ are calculated up to sixth order. From this Taylor series, the susceptibilities are estimated as functions of temperature and $μ_q$. Moreover, we comment on the hadron resonance gas model, which explains well our simulation results below $T_c$.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2004

Numerical study of the equation of state for two flavor QCD at non-zero baryon density

We discuss the equation of state (EoS) for two flavor QCD at non-zero temperature and density. Derivatives of $\ln Z$ with respect to quark chemical potential $μ_q$ are calculated up to sixth order. From this Taylor series, the pressure, quark number density and associated susceptibilities are estimated as functions of temperature and $μ_q$. It is found that the fluctuations in the quark number density increase in the vicinity of the phase transition temperature and the susceptibilities start to develop a pronounced peak as $μ_q$ is increased. This suggests the presence of a critical endpoint in the $(μ_q, T)$ plane. Moreover, we comment on the hadron resonance gas model, which explains well our simulation results below $T_c$.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2004

Vector meson at non-zero baryon density and zero sound

We present simulation results of the (2+1)d four-fermion model with a baryon chemical potential. We examine temporal correlation functions of the vector meson, and find evidence of phonon-like behavior characterised by a linear dispersion relation in the long wavelength limit. We also discuss the consistency of our numerical results with analytical solutions to the Boltzmann equation corresponding to zero sound. We argue that our results provide the first evidence for a collective excitation in a lattice simulation.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2004

Non-Compact QED_3 with N_f=1 and N_f=4

We present numerical results for non-compact three-dimensional QED for numbers of flavors N_f=1 and N_f=4.In particular, we address the issue of whether chiral symmetry is spontaneously broken in the continuum limit, and obtain a positive answer for N_f=1, with a dimensionless condensate estimated to be beta^2 ~= O(10^-3), implying that the critical number of flavors N_fc>1. We also compare the N_f=1 and N_f=4 models by analysing the transition from strong to weak coupling behaviour using an equation of state based on a continuous phase transition. While some qualitative differences emerge, it appears difficult to determine whether N_f=4 lies above or below N_fc.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2003

Numerical study of the equation of state for two flavor QCD at finite density

We discuss the equation of state for 2 flavor QCD at non-zero temperature and density. Derivatives of $\ln Z$ with respect to quark chemical potential $μ_q$ up to fourth order are calculated, enabling estimates of the pressure, quark number density and associated susceptibilities as functions of $μ_q$ via a Taylor series expansion. It is found that the fluctuations in the quark number density increase in the vicinity of the phase transition temperature and the susceptibilities start to develop a pronounced peak as $μ_q$ is increased. This suggests the presence of a critical endpoint in the $(T, μ_q)$ plane.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2003

Where is the chiral critical point in 3-flavor QCD?

We determine the location of the second order endpoint of the line of first order chiral phase transition in 3-flavor QCD at vanishing chemical potential. Using Ferrenberg-Swendsen reweighting for two values of the quark mass we determine the dependence of the transition line on the chemical potential and locate the chiral critical point. For both quantities we find a significant quark mass dependence.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2003

The equation of state for two flavor QCD at finite density

We discuss the equation of state for QCD at non-zero temperature and density. We present results of a simulation for QCD with 2 flavors of p4-improved staggered fermions. Derivatives of $\ln {\cal Z}$ with respect to quark chemical potential $μ_q$ up to fourth order are calculated, enabling estimates of the pressure, quark number density and associated susceptibilities as functions of $μ_q$ via a Taylor series expansion. We also discuss the radius of convergence of the expansion as a function of temperature. It is found that the fluctuations in the quark number density increase in the vicinity of the phase transition temperature and the susceptibilities start to develop a pronounced peak as $μ_q$ is increased. This suggests the presence of a critical endpoint in the $(T, μ_q)$ plane.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2003

The Equation of State for Two Flavor QCD at Non-zero Chemical Potential

We present results of a simulation of QCD on a 4x16^3 lattice with 2 continuum flavors of p4-improved staggered fermion with mass m/T=0.4. Derivatives of the thermodynamic grand potential with respect to quark chemical potential mu_q up to fourth order are calculated, enabling estimates of the pressure, quark number density and associated susceptibilities as functions of mu_q via Taylor series expansion. Discretisation effects associated with various staggered fermion formulations are discussed in some detail. In addition it is possible to estimate the radius of convergence of the expansion as a function of temperature. We also discuss the calculation of energy and entropy densities which are defined via mixed derivatives of the thermodynamic grand potential with respect to the bare couplings and quark masses.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2002

The chiral limit of non-compact QED(3)

Non-compact QED(3) with four-component fermion flavor content larger than or equal to two is studied numerically near the chiral limit to understand its chiral symmetry breaking features. We monitor discretization and finite size effects on the chiral condensate by simulating the model at different values of the gauge coupling on lattices ranging in size from 10^3 to 50^3. Our upper bound for the dimensionless condensate beta^2 in the N_f=2 case is 5x10^{-5}.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2002

The quark mass and $μ$ dependence of the QCD chiral critical point

In order to study the QCD chiral critical point we investigate Binder Cumulants of the chiral condensate. The results were obtained from simulations of 3 and 2+1 flavors of standard staggered fermions and 3 flavors of p4 improved staggered fermions. The quark masses used are close to the physical quark mass. To extract the dependence on quark mass and chemical potential we apply a new reweighting technique based on a Taylor expansion of the action. The reweighting accuracy is ${\cal O}(m)$ for the standard and ${\cal O}(m^2)$, ${\cal O}(μ^2)$ for the p4 action.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2002

The QCD phase transition at high temperature and low density

We study the thermal properties of QCD in the presence of a small quark chemical potential $μ$. Derivatives of the phase transition point with respect to $μ$ are computed at $μ=0$ for 2 and 3 flavors of p-4 improved staggered fermions on a $16^3\times4$ lattice. Moreover we contrast the case of isoscalar and isovector chemical potentials, quantify the effect of $μ\not=0$ on the equation of state, and comment on the screening effect by dynamical quarks and the complex phase of the fermion determinant in QCD with $μ\not=0$.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2002

The QCD thermal phase transition in the presence of a small chemical potential

We propose a new method to investigate the thermal properties of QCD with a small quark chemical potential $μ$. Derivatives of the phase transition point with respect to $μ$ are computed at $μ=0$ for 2 flavors of p-4 improved staggered fermions with $ma=0.1,0.2$ on a $16^3\times4$ lattice. The resulting Taylor expansion is well behaved for the small values of $μ_{\rm q}/T_c\sim0.1$ relevant for RHIC phenomenology, and predicts a critical curve $T_c(μ)$ in reasonable agreement with estimates obtained using exact reweighting. In addition, we contrast the case of isoscalar and isovector chemical potentials, quantify the effect of $μ\not=0$ on the equation of state, and comment on the complex phase of the fermion determinant in QCD with $μ\not=0$.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2002

Non-compact QED_3 with N_f >=2

Non-compact three-dimensional QED is studied by computer simulations to understand its chiral symmetry breaking features for N_f>=2, on lattice volumes up to 50^3 and bare masses as low as ma=0.0000625. We compute the chiral condensate, scalar and pseudoscalar susceptibilities, and the masses of scalar and pseudoscalar mesons. Finite volume effects and discretisation artifacts are carefully monitored. Our results reveal no decisive signal for chiral symmetry breaking for any N_f>=2. For N_f=2 the dimensionless condensate can be bounded by beta^2 <= 5x10^-5. We also present an exploratory study of the fractionally-charged Polyakov line.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2002

Application of the Maximum Entropy Method to the (2+1)d Four-Fermion Model

We investigate spectral functions extracted using the Maximum Entropy Method from correlators measured in lattice simulations of the (2+1)-dimensional four-fermion model. This model is particularly interesting because it has both a chirally broken phase with a rich spectrum of mesonic bound states and a symmetric phase where there are only resonances. In the broken phase we study the elementary fermion, pion, sigma and massive pseudoscalar meson; our results confirm the Goldstone nature of the pi and permit an estimate of the meson binding energy. We have, however, seen no signal of sigma -> pi pi decay as the chiral limit is approached. In the symmetric phase we observe a resonance of non-zero width in qualitative agreement with analytic expectations; in addition the ultra-violet behaviour of the spectral functions is consistent with the large non-perturbative anomalous dimension for fermion composite operators expected in this model.

hep-lat↗