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We use non-perturbative lattice calculations to investigate the finite-temperature confinement transition of stealth dark matter, focusing on the regime in which this early-universe transition is first order and would generate a stochastic background of gravitational waves. Stealth dark matter extends the standard model with a new strongly coupled SU(4) gauge sector with four massive fermions in the fundamental representation, producing a stable spin-0 'dark baryon' as a viable composite dark matter candidate. Future searches for stochastic gravitational waves will provide a new way to discover or constrain stealth dark matter, in addition to previously investigated direct-detection and collider experiments. As a first step to enabling this phenomenology, we determine how heavy the dark fermions need to be in order to produce a first-order stealth dark matter confinement transition., Data release at doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3921870

We propose using Normalizing Flows as a trainable kernel within the molecular dynamics update of Hamiltonian Monte Carlo (HMC). By learning (invertible) transformations that simplify our dynamics, we can outperform traditional methods at generating independent configurations. We show that, using a carefully constructed network architecture, our approach can be easily scaled to large lattice volumes with minimal retraining effort. The source code for our implementation is publicly available online at https://github.com/nftqcd/fthmc., Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures, presented at The 38th International Symposium on Lattice Field Theory, LATTICE2021 26th-30th July, 2021 Zoom/Gather @ Massachusetts Institute of Technology

We present a modification of the Hybrid Monte Carlo algorithm for tackling the critical slowing down of generating Markov chains of lattice gauge configurations towards the continuum limit. We propose a new method to exchange information within an ensemble of Markov chains, and use it to construct an approximate inverse Hessian matrix of the action inspired from quasi-Newton algorithms for optimization. The kinetic term of the molecular dynamics evolution includes the approximate Hessian for long distance couplings among the momenta. We show the result of applying the new algorithm to the $U(1)$ gauge theory in two dimensions, and discuss our future plans., 7 pages, 2 figures, Proceedings of the 36th Annual International Symposium on Lattice Field Theory (Lattice 2018), 22-28 July 2018, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan USA

We present a lattice calculation of the electromagnetic (EM) effects on the masses of light pseudoscalar mesons. The simulations employ 2+1 dynamical flavors of asqtad QCD quarks, and quenched photons. Lattice spacings vary from $\approx 0.12$ fm to $\approx 0.045$ fm. We compute the quantity $\epsilon$, which parameterizes the corrections to Dashen's theorem for the $K^+$-$K^0$ EM mass splitting, as well as $\epsilon_{K^0}$, which parameterizes the EM contribution to the mass of the $K^0$ itself. An extension of the nonperturbative EM renormalization scheme introduced by the BMW group is used in separating EM effects from isospin-violating quark mass effects. We correct for leading finite-volume effects in our realization of lattice electrodynamics in chiral perturbation theory, and remaining finite-volume errors are relatively small. While electroquenched effects are under control for $\epsilon$, they are estimated only qualitatively for $\epsilon_{K^0}$, and constitute one of the largest sources of uncertainty for that quantity. We find $\epsilon = 0.78(1)_{\rm stat}({}^{+\phantom{1}8}_{-11})_{\rm syst}$ and $\epsilon_{K^0}=0.035(3)_{\rm stat}(20)_{\rm syst}$. We then use these results on 2+1+1 flavor pure QCD HISQ ensembles and find $m_u/m_d = 0.4529(48)_{\rm stat}( {}_{-\phantom{1}67}^{+150})_{\rm syst}$., Comment: Version published in Phys. Rev. D. Compared to v1, more discussion of nonperturbative EM renormalization scheme, of statistical errors (with 3 added figures), and of choice QED_{TL} in finite volume. 87 pages, 35 figures

We present a new software framework for simulating lattice field theories. It features an intuitive programming interface, while simultaneously achieving high performance supercomputing, all in one programming language, Nim. With a macro system based on its abstract syntax tree, the language enables us to check and optimize our code at compile time. It also allows us to code intrinsics that map directly to machine instructions, and generates efficient native code. We show how we use Nim's metaprogramming features in our code, and present the current status of the code and future plans., 6 pages, 1 figures, presented at the 38th International Conference on High Energy Physics, August 3 - 10, 2016, Chicago

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., Comment: 6 pages, 6 figures. Added report number. Version submitted to journal

We present a new model of "Stealth Dark Matter": a composite baryonic scalar of an $SU(N_D)$ strongly-coupled theory with even $N_D \geq 4$. All mass scales are technically natural, and dark matter stability is automatic without imposing an additional discrete or global symmetry. Constituent fermions transform in vector-like representations of the electroweak group that permit both electroweak-breaking and electroweak-preserving mass terms. This gives a tunable coupling of stealth dark matter to the Higgs boson independent of the dark matter mass itself. We specialize to $SU(4)$, and investigate the constraints on the model from dark meson decay, electroweak precision measurements, basic collider limits, and spin-independent direct detection scattering through Higgs exchange. We exploit our earlier lattice simulations that determined the composite spectrum as well as the effective Higgs coupling of stealth dark matter in order to place bounds from direct detection, excluding constituent fermions with dominantly electroweak-breaking masses. A lower bound on the dark baryon mass $m_B \gtrsim 300$ GeV is obtained from the indirect requirement that the lightest dark meson not be observable at LEP II. We briefly survey some intriguing properties of stealth dark matter that are worthy of future study, including: collider studies of dark meson production and decay; indirect detection signals from annihilation; relic abundance estimates for both symmetric and asymmetric mechanisms; and direct detection through electromagnetic polarizability, a detailed study of which will appear in a companion paper., 15 pages, 3 figures, citations added, typos fixed, minor clarifications

We discuss the Tensor Renormalization Group (TRG) method for the O(2) model with a chemical potential in 1+1 dimensions with emphasis on near gapless/conformal situations. We emphasize the role played by the late Leo Kadanoff in the development of this theoretical framework. We describe the entanglement entropy in the superfluid phase (see arXiv:1507.01471 for details). We present recent progress on optimized truncation methods., Comment: Submitted as PoS(LATTICE 2015)285. Talk given by Yannick Meurice at the The 33rd International Symposium on Lattice Field Theory, 14 -18 July 2015, Kobe, Japan. Latex with 7 pages and 9 figures

We present our progress on a study of the $O(3)$ model in two-dimensions using the Tensor Renormalization Group method. We first construct the theory in terms of tensors, and show how to construct $n$-point correlation functions. We then give results for thermodynamic quantities at finite and infinite volume, as well as 2-point correlation function data. We discuss some of the advantages and challenges of tensor renormalization and future directions in which to work., 7 pages, 8 figures

Preliminary results from simulations with 2+1 dynamical quark flavors at a lattice spacing of 0.09 fm are combined with earlier results at a=0.13 fm. We examine the approach to the continuum limit and investigate the dependence of the pseudoscalar masses and decay constants as the sea and valence quark masses are separately varied., Comment: Lattice2002(spectrum)

As a test of the chiral properties of the improved Asqtad (staggered fermion) action, we have been measuring the topological susceptibility as a function of quark masses for 2 + 1 dynamical flavors. We report preliminary results, which show reasonable agreement with leading order chiral perturbation theory for lattice spacing less than 0.1 fm. The total topological charge, however, shows strong persistence over Monte Carlo time., Comment: Lattice2002(algor)

We summarize our measurement of the mass of the exotic $1^{-+}$ hybrid meson using an improved Kogut-Susskind action. We show results from both quenched and dynamical quark simulations and compare with results from Wilson quarks. Extrapolation of these results to the physical quark mass allows comparison with experimental candidates for the $1^{-+}$ hybrid meson., Lattice2002(spectrum)

Using domain-wall lattice simulations, we study pseudoscalar-pseudoscalar scattering in the maximal isospin channel for an SU(3) gauge theory with two and six fermion flavors in the fundamental representation. This calculation of the S-wave scattering length is related to the next-to-leading order corrections to WW scattering through the low-energy coefficients of the chiral Lagrangian. While two and six flavor scattering lengths are similar for a fixed ratio of the pseudoscalar mass to its decay constant, six-flavor scattering shows a somewhat less repulsive next-to-leading order interaction than its two-flavor counterpart. Estimates are made for the WW scattering parameters and the plausibility of detection is discussed., 8 pages, 6 figures

We calculate pseudoscalar masses on gauge configurations containing the effects of 2+1 flavors of dynamical asqtad quarks and quenched electromagnetism. The lattice spacings vary from 0.12 to 0.06 fm. The masses are fit with staggered chiral perturbation theory including NLO electromagnetic terms. We attempt to extract the fit parameters for the electromagnetic contributions, while taking into account the finite volume effects, and extrapolate them to the physical limit., Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, 2 tables. Proceedings of the 30th International Symposium on Lattice Field Theory - Lattice 2012; June 24-29, 2012; Cairns, Australia. Expanded acknowledgements

We present a random matrix theory (RMT) for the staggered lattice QCD Dirac operator. The staggered RMT is equivalent to the zero-momentum limit of the staggered chiral Lagrangian and includes all taste breaking terms at their leading order. This is an extension of previous work which only included some of the taste breaking terms. We will also present some results for the taste breaking contributions to the partition function and the Dirac eigenvalues., 12 pages, 7 figures, v2 has minor edits and corrections to some equations to match published version

We report on the status of a program of generating and using configurations with four flavors of dynamical quarks, using the HISQ action. We study the lattice spacing dependence of physical quantities in these simulations, using runs at several lattice spacings, but with the light quark mass held fixed at two tenths of the strange quark mass. We find that the lattice artifacts in the HISQ simulations are much smaller than those in the asqtad simulations at the same lattice spacings and quark masses. We also discuss methods for setting the scale, or assigning a lattice spacing to ensembles run at unphysical parameters., Proceedings of the XXVIII International Symposium on Lattice Field Theory, Lattice2010

We present an adaptive multigrid solver for application to the non-Hermitian Wilson-Dirac system of QCD. The key components leading to the success of our proposed algorithm are the use of an adaptive projection onto coarse grids that preserves the near null space of the system matrix together with a simplified form of the correction based on the so-called gamma_5-Hermitian symmetry of the Dirac operator. We demonstrate that the algorithm nearly eliminates critical slowing down in the chiral limit and that it has weak dependence on the lattice volume.

We describe initial results by the Lattice Strong Dynamics (LSD) collaboration of a study into the variation of chiral properties of chiral properties of SU(3) Yang-Mills gauge theory as the number of massless flavors changes from $N_f = 2$ to $N_f = 6$, with a focus on the use of chiral perturbation theory., 9 pages, 3 figures. Presented at the 6th International Workshop on Chiral Dynamics, University of Bern, Switzerland, July 6-10 2009

We study the chiral condensate $$ for an SU(3) gauge theory with $N_f$ massless Dirac fermions in the fundamental representation when $N_f$ is increased from 2 to 6. For $N_f=2$, our lattice simulations of $/F^3$, where $F$ is the Nambu-Goldstone-boson decay constant, agree with the measured QCD value. For $N_f = 6$, this ratio shows significant enhancement, presaging an even larger enhancement anticipated as $N_f$ increases further, toward the critical value for transition from confinement to infrared conformality., Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures. v2: revised version for PRL

We discuss the calculation of disconnected diagrams needed for determining the strange quark content of the nucleon on the lattice. We present results for the strange scalar form factor and the related parameter f_Ts, which enters into the cross-section for the scattering of dark matter off nuclei in supersymmetric extensions of the standard model. In addition, we present results for the strange contribution to the nucleon's axial and electromagnetic form factors. The calculations were performed with two dynamical flavors of Wilson fermions on a 24^3 x 64 anisotropic lattice with a_s = 3a_t = 0.11 fm and M_pi ~ 400 MeV., Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures, presented at the XXVI International Symposium on Lattice Field Theory (Lattice 2008), Williamsburg, Virginia, July 14-19, 2008

The Dirac spectrum of QCD with dynamical fermions at nonzero chemical potential is characterized by three regions, a region with a constant eigenvalue density, a region where the eigenvalue density shows oscillations that grow exponentially with the volume and the remainder of the complex plane where the eigenvalue density is zero. In this paper we derive the phase diagram of the Dirac spectrum from a chiral Lagrangian. We show that the constant eigenvalue density corresponds to a pion condensed phase while the strongly oscillating region is given by a kaon condensed phase. The normal phase with nonzero chiral condensate but vanishing Bose condensates coincides with the region of the complex plane where there are no eigenvalues., Comment: 17 pages, 3 figures

The chiral condensate in QCD at zero temperature does not depend on the quark chemical potential (up to one third the nucleon mass), whereas the spectral density of the Dirac operator shows a strong dependence on the chemical potential. The cancellations which make this possible also occur on the microscopic scale, where they can be investigated by means of a random matrix model. We show that they can be understood in terms of orthogonality properties of orthogonal polynomials. In the strong non-Hermiticity limit they are related to integrability properties of the spectral density. As a by-product we find exact analytical expressions for the partially quenched chiral condensate in the microscopic domain at nonzero chemical potential., Comment: 29 pages, 5 figures, version to appear in PRD

In this talk we discuss the microscopic limit of QCD at nonzero chemical potential. In this domain, where the QCD partition function is under complete analytical control, we uncover an entirely new link between the spectral density of the Dirac operator and the chiral condensate: violent complex oscillations on the microscopic scale give rise to the discontinuity of the chiral condensate at zero quark mass. We first establish this relation exactly within a random matrix framework and then analyze the importance of the individual modes by Fourier analysis., Proceedings from CAQCD 2008 in Minneapolis, 13 pages 3 figures

The MILC collaboration's simulations with improved staggered quarks are being extended with runs at a lattice spacing of 0.06 fm with quark masses down to one tenth the strange quark mass. We give a brief introduction to these new simulations and the determination of the lattice spacing. Then we combine these new runs with older results to study the masses of the nucleon and the Omega minus in the continuum and chiral limits., 7 pages, proceedings from Lattice 2007 conference

I will present a method for providing initial guesses to a linear solver for systems with multiple shifts. This can also be extended to the case of multiple sources each with a different shift., Comment: 7 pages, talk presented at the XXVI International Symposium on Lattice Field Theory, July 14-19, 2008, Williamsburg, Virginia, USA. Colors in the tables have been replaced with italics in the arXiv version. See the PoS version for correct colors (or use pdflatex from the source)

We present a new multigrid solver that is suitable for the Dirac operator in the presence of disordered gauge fields. The key behind the success of the algorithm is an adaptive projection onto the coarse grids that preserves the near null space. The resulting algorithm has weak dependence on the gauge coupling and exhibits very little critical slowing down in the chiral limit. Results are presented for the Wilson Dirac operator of the 2d U(1) Schwinger model., Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures

We discuss the current status of our calculation of the physics of pi and K mesons using three dynamical flavors of improved staggered quarks. This year, we have a new ensemble with a lattice spacing of 0.06 fm and a light sea mass of 0.2 m_s, as well as significant increases in statistics at several coarser lattice spacings and/or heavier sea masses. Results for decay constants, quark masses, low energy constants, condensates, and V_{us} are presented., Comment: v2: fixed typo in Table 1. Presented by C. Bernard at Lattice 2007; 7 pages, 3 figures

Using a chiral random matrix theory we can now derive the low energy partition functions and Dirac eigenvalue correlations of QCD with different chemical potentials for the dynamical and valence quarks. The results can also be extended to complex (and purely imaginary) chemical potential. We also discuss possible applications such as fitting to low energy constants and understanding the phase diagrams of the full and partially quenched theories., 7 pages, 9 figures, Lattice 2006 (High Temperature and Density)

We solve a new chiral Random Two-Matrix Theory by means of biorthogonal polynomials for any matrix size $N$. By deriving the relevant kernels we find explicit formulas for all $(n,k)$-point spectral (mixed or unmixed) correlation functions. In the microscopic limit we find the corresponding scaling functions, and thus derive all spectral correlators in this limit as well. We extend these results to the ordinary (non-chiral) ensembles, and also there provide explicit solutions for any finite size $N$, and in the microscopic scaling limit. Our results give the general analytical expressions for the microscopic correlation functions of the Dirac operator eigenvalues in theories with imaginary baryon and isospin chemical potential, and can be used to extract the tree-level pion decay constant from lattice gauge theory configurations. We find exact agreement with previous computations based on the low-energy effective field theory in the two special cases where comparisons are possible., 31 pages 2 figures, v2 missing term in partially quenched results inserted, fig 2 updated

We investigate the lattice QCD Dirac operator with staggered fermions at temperatures around the chiral phase transition. We present evidence of a metal-insulator transition in the low lying modes of the Dirac operator around the same temperature as the chiral phase transition. This strongly suggests the phenomenon of Anderson localization drives the QCD vacuum to the chirally symmetric phase in a way similar to a metal-insulator transition in a disordered conductor. We also discuss how Anderson localization affects the usual phenomenological treatment of phase transitions a la Ginzburg-Landau., Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures, references added, typos corrected, journal version

We compare eigenvalue correlations of the Dirac operator with a chemical potential obtained from lattice simulations of quenched QCD with analytic predictions obtained from chiral effective theories in the zero-momentum limit. By comparing the density and two-point correlation function we show that the analytic results agree with QCD at low energies. We also examine the scale (Thouless energy) up to which the zero-momentum approximation is valid., Comment: 6 pages, 12 figures, talk given at Lattice 2005

The relation between the spectral density of the QCD Dirac operator at nonzero baryon chemical potential and the chiral condensate is investigated. We use the analytical result for the eigenvalue density in the microscopic regime which shows oscillations with a period that scales as 1/V and an amplitude that diverges exponentially with the volume $V=L^4$. We find that the discontinuity of the chiral condensate is due to the whole oscillating region rather than to an accumulation of eigenvalues at the origin. These results also extend beyond the microscopic regime to chemical potentials $\mu \sim 1/L$., Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure

We present the first three-flavor lattice QCD calculations for $D\to \pi l\nu$ and $D\to K l\nu$ semileptonic decays. Simulations are carried out using ensembles of unquenched gauge fields generated by the MILC collaboration. With an improved staggered action for light quarks, we are able to simulate at light quark masses down to 1/8 of the strange mass. Consequently, the systematic error from the chiral extrapolation is much smaller than in previous calculations with Wilson-type light quarks. Our results for the form factors at $q^2=0$ are $f_+^{D\to\pi}(0)=0.64(3)(6)$ and $f_+^{D\to K}(0) = 0.73(3)(7)$, where the first error is statistical and the second is systematic, added in quadrature. Combining our results with experimental branching ratios, we obtain the CKM matrix elements $|V_{cd}|=0.239(10)(24)(20)$ and $|V_{cs}|=0.969(39)(94)(24)$, where the last errors are from experimental uncertainties., Comment: Fermilab Lattice, MILC, and HPQCD Collaborations; 4 pp

We study the spectrum and eigenmodes of the QCD Dirac operator in a gauge background given by an Instanton Liquid Model (ILM) at temperatures around the chiral phase transition. Generically we find the Dirac eigenvectors become more localized as the temperature is increased. At the chiral phase transition, both the low lying eigenmodes and the spectrum of the QCD Dirac operator undergo a transition to localization similar to the one observed in a disordered conductor. This suggests that Anderson localization is the fundamental mechanism driving the chiral phase transition. We also find an additional temperature dependent mobility edge (separating delocalized from localized eigenstates) in the bulk of the spectrum which moves toward lower eigenvalues as the temperature is increased. In both regions, the origin and the bulk, the transition to localization exhibits features of a 3D Anderson transition including multifractal eigenstates and spectral properties that are well described by critical statistics. Similar results are obtained in both the quenched and the unquenched case though the critical temperature in the unquenched case is lower. Finally we argue that our findings are not in principle restricted to the ILM approximation and may also be found in lattice simulations., Comment: 14 pages, 13 figures

We have extended our program of QCD simulations with an improved Kogut-Susskind quark action to a smaller lattice spacing, approximately 0.09 fm. Also, the simulations with a approximately 0.12 fm have been extended to smaller quark masses. In this paper we describe the new simulations and computations of the static quark potential and light hadron spectrum. These results give information about the remaining dependences on the lattice spacing. We examine the dependence of computed quantities on the spatial size of the lattice, on the numerical precision in the computations, and on the step size used in the numerical integrations. We examine the effects of autocorrelations in "simulation time" on the potential and spectrum. We see effects of decays, or coupling to two-meson states, in the 0++, 1+, and 0- meson propagators, and we make a preliminary mass computation for a radially excited 0- meson., Comment: 43 pages, 16 figures

As one test of the validity of the staggered-fermion fourth-root determinant trick, we examine the suppression of the topological susceptibility of the QCD vacuum in the limit of small quark mass. The suppression is sensitive to the number of light sea quark flavors. Our study is done in the presence of 2+1 flavors of dynamical quarks in the improved staggered fermion formulation. Variance-reduction techniques provide better control of statistical errors. New results from staggered chiral perturbation theory account for taste-breaking effects in the low-quark mass behavior of the susceptibility, thereby reducing scaling violations from this source. Measurements over a range of quark masses at two lattice spacings permit a rough continuum extrapolation to remove the remaining lattice artifacts. The results are consistent with chiral perturbation theory with the correct flavor counting., Lattice2004(topology)

We argue that high-precision lattice QCD is now possible, for the first time, because of a new improved staggered quark discretization. We compare a wide variety of nonperturbative calculations in QCD with experiment, and find agreement to within statistical and systematic errors of 3% or less. We also present a new determination of alpha_msbar(Mz); we obtain 0.121(3). We discuss the implications of this breakthrough for phenomenology and, in particular, for heavy-quark physics., Comment: 2 figures, revtex

The microscopic spectral density of the QCD Dirac operator at nonzero baryon chemical potential for an arbitrary number of quark flavors was derived recently from a random matrix model with the global symmetries of QCD. In this paper we show that these results and extensions thereof can be obtained from the replica limit of a Toda lattice equation. This naturally leads to a factorized form into bosonic and fermionic QCD-like partition functions. In the microscopic limit these partition functions are given by the static limit of a chiral Lagrangian that follows from the symmetry breaking pattern. In particular, we elucidate the role of the singularity of the bosonic partition function in the orthogonal polynomials approach. A detailed discussion of the spectral density for one and two flavors is given., Comment: 27 pages, 7 figures, v2 ref added and figure labels corrected

We discuss a new Random Matrix Model for QCD with a chemical potential that is based on the symmetries of the Dirac operator and can be solved exactly for all eigenvalue correlations for any number of flavors. In the microscopic limit of small energy levels the results should be an accurate description of QCD. This new model can also be scaled so that all physical observables remain at their $\mu=0$ values until a first order chiral restoration transition is reached. This gives a more realistic model for the QCD phase diagram than previous RMM. We also mention how the model might aid in determining the phase diagram of QCD from future numerical simulations., Comment: 3 pages, 3 figures, Lattice2004(non-zero)

The topological susceptibility of the vacuum in quantum chromodynamics has been simulated numerically using the Asqtad improved staggered fermion formalism. At nonzero lattice spacing the residual fermion doublers (fermion ``tastes'') in the staggered fermion formalism give contributions to the susceptibility that deviate from conventional continuum chiral perturbation theory. In this brief report we estimate the taste-breaking artifact and compare it with results of recent simulations, finding that it accounts for roughly half of the scaling violation., Comment: 9 pp., 2 figs., submitted to Phys. Rev. D

We introduce a new non-Hermitian random matrix model for QCD with a baryon chemical potential. This model is a direct chiral extension of a previously studied model that interpolates between the Wigner-Dyson and Ginibre ensembles. We present exact results for all eigenvalue correlations for any number of quark flavors using the orthogonal polynomial method. We also find that the parameters of the model can be scaled to remove the effects of the chemical potential from all thermodynamic quantities until the finite density phase transition is reached. This makes the model and its extensions well suited for studying the phase diagram of QCD., Comment: 4 pages

We model the QCD Dirac operator as a power-law random banded matrix (RBM) with the appropriate chiral symmetry. Our motivation is the form of the Dirac operator in a basis of instantonic zero modes with a corresponding gauge background of instantons. We compare the spectral correlations of this model to those of an instanton liquid model (ILM) and find agreement well beyond the Thouless energy. In the bulk of the spectrum the (dimensionless) Thouless energy of the RBM scales with the square root of system size in agreement with the ILM and chiral perturbation theory. Near the origin the scaling of the (dimensionless) Thouless energy in the RBM remains the same as in the bulk which agrees with chiral perturbation theory but not with the ILM. Finally we discuss how this RBM should be modified in order to describe the spectral correlations of the QCD Dirac operator at the finite temperature chiral restoration transition., 4 pages, 3 figures

We introduce three universality classes of chiral random matrix ensembles with a nonzero chemical potential and real, complex or quaternion real matrix elements. In the thermodynamic limit we find that the distribution of the eigenvalues in the complex plane does not depend on the Dyson index, and is given by the solution proposed by Stephanov. For a finite number of degrees of freedom, $N$, we find an accumulation of eigenvalues on the imaginary axis for real matrices, whereas for quaternion real matrices we find a depletion of eigenvalues in this domain. This effect is of order $1/\sqrt N$. In particular for the real case the resolvent shows a discontinuity of order $1/\sqrt N$. These results are in agreement with lattice QCD simulations with staggered fermions and recent instanton liquid simulations both for two colors and nonzero chemical potential., 4 pages, 2 figures, Latex, modified the introduction

We present preliminary results of a determination of the semileptonic form factor for the decay of pseudoscalar heavy-light mesons to pseudoscalar light-light mesons in full QCD. In this preliminary study we focus on the effects of dynamical quark loops. Accordingly, we compare results of simulations with matched quenched and Asqtad dynamical gauge configurations. The latter include three flavors of light quarks. Our simulation uses clover Wilson valence quarks, treated in the Fermilab formalism. Preliminary results, as yet uncorrected by continuum matching factors, suggest a measurable enhancement in the form factor due to dynamical quark loops over the accessible range of $q^2$., Comment: Lattice2003(heavy)