Search

An analysis of the geometry and structure of centre vortices in the presence of dynamical fermions is performed. A variety of metrics are used to measure the matrix structure of the vortex-modified gauge fields. Visualisations of centre vortices are presented and percolating clusters are identified. The size of secondary vortex clusters is analysed, with substantial differences observed between the pure Yang-Mills and dynamical fermion case. Vortex fields are represented as directed graphs, with branching points acting as the vertices. This representation leads to a novel picture of vortex branching as a binomial process. These results elucidate the change in the centre vortex vacuum induced by the introduction of dynamical fermions., Comment: 18 pages, 22 figures

Quark confinement and dynamical chiral symmetry breaking are two of the most important emergent properties of the theory of quantum chromodynamics. We review recent results studying centre vortices in SU(3) lattice gauge theory with dynamical quarks. Through a vortex identification procedure, vortex-removed and vortex-only fields are obtained from the usual Monte Carlo generated gauge fields. Several comparisons between the untouched fields and the vortex-modified fields support the notion that centre vortices are fundamental to both confinement and dynamical chiral symmetry breaking in full QCD., Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures; Proceedings of the 39th International Symposium on Lattice Field Theory, 8-13 August 2022, Bonn, Germany

The non-trivial ground-state vacuum fields of QCD form the foundation of matter. Here we examine the centre vortices identified within the ground-state fields of lattice QCD. We aim to understand the manner in which dynamical fermions in the QCD vacuum alter the centre-vortex structure. Using modern visualisation techniques, the centre-vortex structure of pure-gauge and dynamical-fermion fields is quantified and compared. We then explore the impact this modified structure has on measures of confinement and dynamical mass generation. The string tension of the static quark potential, positivity-violation in the gluon propagator, and dynamical mass generation in the overlap quark propagator are of particular interest. The impact of dynamical fermions is significant and provides new insights into the role of centre vortices in underpinning both confinement and dynamical chiral symmetry breaking in QCD., Comment: 12 pages, 9 figures including 4 3D-interactive in Adobe Reader. Plenary presentation at the XVth Quark Confinement and the Hadron Spectrum conference, 1st-6th August 2022, Stavanger, Norway. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:2205.12518

The impact of $SU(3)$ centre vortices on the Landau-gauge gluon propagator is calculated in the presence of dynamical fermions and compared to the pure Yang-Mills case. The presence of dynamical fermions is found to alter the behaviour of the centre vortex propagator when compared to the established pure-gauge result. The gluon spectral representation is also explored from the centre vortex perspective, where centre vortices are shown to exhibit clear signs of positivity violation, which is an indicator of confinement. Vortex removal subsequently restores positivity, demonstrating the crucial role centre vortices play in the confinement of gluons., Comment: 9 pages, 12 figures

For the first time, centre vortices are identified on SU(3) lattice ensembles that include dynamical fermions. Using a variational method, the static quark potential is calculated on untouched, vortex-removed, and vortex-only fields. Two dynamical ensembles and one pure gauge ensemble are studied, allowing for an exploration of the impact of dynamical fermions on the centre-vortex vacuum. Novel modifications to the standard Coulomb term are introduced to describe the long range behaviour of the vortex-removed potential. These modifications remove a source of systematic error in the fitted string tension on the original ensembles. Our pure Yang-Mills result is consistent with previous studies, where projected centre-vortex fields only reproduce approximately two thirds of the string tension. Remarkably, we find that the vortex-only fields on both dynamical lattices are able to fully reproduce the respective untouched string tensions., Comment: 14 pages, 9 figures

The non-trivial ground-state vacuum fields of QCD form the foundation of matter. Using modern visualisation techniques, this presentation examines the microscopic structure of these fields. Of particular interest are the centre vortices identified within the ground-state fields of lattice QCD. Our current focus is on understanding the manner in which dynamical fermions in the QCD vacuum alter the centre-vortex structure. The impact of dynamical fermions is significant and provides new insights into the role of centre vortices in underpinning both confinement and dynamical chiral symmetry breaking in QCD., Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures with 4 3D interactive. XXXIII International (Online) Workshop on High Energy Physics, "Hard Problems of Hadron Physics: Non-Perturbative QCD & Related Quests" November 8-12, 2021. arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:2204.04825

The behaviour of centre vortices in the presence of dynamical fermions is studied for the first time in the context of the static quark potential and the Landau-gauge gluon propagator. These results indicate that in the presence of dynamical fermions, centre vortices are able to better encapsulate the long-range behaviour of QCD, compared to previous studies on pure Yang-Mills lattices. This work provides strong evidence that centre vortices are responsible for the long-range linear potential and the enhanced infrared gluon propagator, which are indicative of confinement in QCD., Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures. Proceedings of the 38th International Symposium on Lattice Field Theory (Lattice 2021), 26th - 30th July 2021, Zoom/Gather@Massachusetts Institute of Technology

This presentation examines the centre vortex structure of Monte-Carlo generated gauge-field configurations using modern visualisation techniques. This time, the manner in which light dynamical fermion degrees of freedom impact the centre-vortex structure is explored. Focusing on the thin vortices identified by plaquettes having a non-trivial centre phase, the vortex structure is illustrated through 3D renderings of oriented plaquettes. The impact of light dynamical fermions is not subtle, changing both the density of vortices and the complexity of the vortex structures observed. The role of vortex branching points in full QCD is highlighted in the survey of results presented., Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures with 4 3D interactive. Proceedings of the 38th International Symposium on Lattice Field Theory (Lattice 2021), 26th - 30th July 2021, Zoom/Gather@Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Quark confinement is perhaps the most important emergent property of the theory of quantum chromodynamics. Herein we review some key aspects of centre vortices in SU(3) lattice gauge theory. Starting from the original Monte Carlo gauge fields, a vortex identification procedure yields vortex-removed and vortex-only backgrounds. The comparison between the original `untouched' Monte Carlo gauge fields and these so called vortex-modified ensembles has provided a variety of results that support the notion that centre vortices are fundamental to confinement in pure gauge theory. For the first time we perform direct numerical tests of the response of centre vortices to the presence of dynamical quarks in SU(3)., Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures; Proceedings of 38th International Symposium on Lattice Field Theory (LATTICE2021), 26-30 July 2021, Zoom/Gather@MIT, USA

The centre vortex structure of the vacuum is visualised through the use of novel 3D visualisation techniques. These visualisations allow for a hands-on examination of the centre-vortex matter present in the QCD vacuum, and highlights some of the key features of the centre-vortex model. The connection between topological charge and singular points is also explored. This work highlights the useful role visualisations play in the exploration of the QCD vacuum., Comment: 6 pages, 9 figures. In the proceedings of CHEP 2019 - 24rd International Conference on Computing in High Energy and Nuclear Physics, Adelaide, Australia, 4-8 November 2019

The structure of the SU(3) gauge-field vacuum is explored through visualisations of centre vortices and topological charge density. Stereoscopic visualisations highlight interesting features of the vortex vacuum, especially the frequency with which singular points appear and the important connection between branching points and topological charge. This work demonstrates how visualisations of the QCD ground-state fields can reveal new perspectives of centre-vortex structure., Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures. In the proceedings of CHEP 2019 - 24rd International Conference on Computing in High Energy and Nuclear Physics, Adelaide, Australia, 4-8 November 2019

The centre vortex structure of the $SU(3)$ gauge field vacuum is explored through the use of novel visualisation techniques. The lattice is partitioned into 3D time slices, and vortices are identified by locating plaquettes with nontrivial centre phases. Vortices are illustrated by rendering vortex lines that pierce these nontrivial plaquettes. Nontrivial plaquettes with one dimension in the suppressed time direction are rendered by identifying the visible spatial link. These visualisations highlight the frequent presence of singular points and reveal an important role for branching points in $SU(3)$ gauge theory in creating high topological charge density regimes. Visualisations of the topological charge density are presented, and an investigation into the correlation between vortex structures and topological charge density is conducted. The results provide new insight into the mechanisms by which centre vortices generate nontrivial gauge field topology. This work demonstrates the utility of visualisations in conducting centre vortex studies, presenting new avenues with which to investigate this perspective of the QCD vacuum., Comment: 14 Pages, 28 figures

The gluon field configurations that form the foundation of every lattice QCD calculation contain a rich diversity of emergent nonperturbative structure. Visualisations of these phenomena not only serve to explain the concept of a nontrivial vacuum but also entertain a diverse audience from research funding panels to the next generation of science enthusiasts. In this brief review, a collection of QCD-vacuum visualisations is presented including the structure of chromo-electromagnetic fields, centre-cluster evolution at finite temperature, the structure of projected centre vortices, and novel correlations between the electromagnetic fields of QED and the chromo-electromagnetic fields of QCD in QED+QCD dynamical-fermion simulations from the QCDSF collaboration., Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, 3D figure requires Adobe Reader 9 or later, acroread version 9.4.1 for Linux. Lattice QCD Outreach presentation to appear in the proceedings of Lattice 2018, the 36th International Symposium on Lattice Field Theory, Michigan State University, USA, 22-28 July, 2018

The structure of centre vortices in SU(3) gauge-field configurations is examined through modern visualization techniques. Centre vortices are identified through gauge transformations maximizing the centre of the gauge group. Focusing on the thin vortices identified by Wilson loops having a non-trivial centre phase, the vortex structure is illustrated through renderings of oriented spatial plaquettes. Time oriented plaquettes are illustrated by identifying spatial links associated with these non-trivial plaquettes. The results illustrate an important role for the branching of SU(3) centre vortices, possibly through monopole anti-monopole dynamics. Of particular interest is the correlation of the vortex structure and the topological-charge structure of the gauge fields, vital to dynamical chiral symmetry breaking and its associated mass generation. Singular points, where the projected vortex structure contains non-trivial centre phases in associated plaquettes spanning all four dimensions, are observed within the regions of nontrivial topological charge density calculated on the original Monte-Carlo generated configurations. The results provide new insights into the role of centre vortices in underpinning non-trivial topology in gauge fields. They reveal how the removal of centre-vortices necessarily destroys non-trivial topology and destabilizes would-be instantons under smoothing algorithms. The observed correlations further strengthen the idea that centre vortices are the seeds of dynamical chiral symmetry breaking., Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures, 3D figures require Adobe Reader 9 or later, acroread version 9.4.1 for Linux. To appear in the proceedings of Lattice 2018, the 36th International Symposium on Lattice Field Theory, Michigan State University, USA, 22-28 July, 2018

The impact of $SU(3)$ centre vortices on the gluon propagator in Landau gauge is investigated on original, vortex-removed and vortex-only lattice gauge field configurations. Vortex identification is found to partition the gluon propagator into short range strength on the vortex removed configurations and long range strength on the vortex only configurations. The effect of smoothing vortex-only configurations is also studied, and a regime for recovering the form of the smoothed original propagator from vortex-only configurations is introduced. The results reinforce the significance of centre vortices in a fundamental understanding of QCD vacuum structure., Comment: 9 pages, 9 figures, 1 table, version accepted for publication

This courseware evaluation rates the Nutri-Calc microcomputer program developed by CAMDE of Tempe, Arizona. (The program--not included in this document--consists of Nutri-Calc, which calculates total nutritional intake and Recommended Daily Allowances, and Calorie-Magic, which calculates individual ideal caloric intake.) Part A describes Nutri-Calc in terms of subject area (food and nutrition) and hardware requirements (IBM-PC or XT, Apple II, MacIntosh, or TRS80) and indicates its suitability for use with students in grade 11 and up. Listed next are accompanying materials (manual) and time estimate (30 minutes). Availability information includes cost ($99.95), policies, and contact address. Part B contains the evaluation criteria in eight categories; reviewer ratings appear as yes, somewhat, no, and not applicable, with explanatory comments. Part C summarizes the evaluation. This program could supplement a nutrition class, but classroom discussion is needed. Instructors were found to be difficult to follow and unclear. Moreover, some program commands do not work, it is difficult to exit, and the manual is not clearly written. A summary section shows that this courseware received overall ratings of "yes" for subject matter and application programs; "somewhat" for technical presentation, student interaction, and documentation; and "not applicable" for program interaction, student evaluation, and work behaviors. The program can be used to supplement class material, with help from the instructor. (SK)