Search

We evaluate nucleon four-point functions in the framework of lattice QCD in order to extract the first Mellin moment of double parton distributions (DPDs) in the unpolarized proton. In this first study, we employ an nf = 2 + 1 ensemble with pseudoscalar masses of mpi = 355 MeV and mK = 441 MeV. The results are converted to the scale mu = 2 GeV. Our calculation includes all Wick contractions, and for almost all of them a good statistical signal is obtained. We analyze the dependence of the DPD Mellin moments on the quark flavor and the quark polarization. Furthermore, the validity of frequently used factorization assumptions is investigated., Comment: 81 pages, 32 figures

We perform a lattice study of double parton distributions in the pion, using the relationship between their Mellin moments and pion matrix elements of two local currents. A good statistical signal is obtained for almost all relevant Wick contractions. We investigate correlations in the spatial distribution of two partons in the pion, as well as correlations involving the parton polarisation. The patterns we observe depend significantly on the quark mass. We investigate the assumption that double parton distributions approximately factorise into a convolution of single parton distributions., Comment: 60 pages, 33 figures. v2: added clarifications and a comparison with quark model results

Building upon our recent study arXiv:1709.04325, we investigate the feasibility of calculating the pion distribution amplitude from suitably chosen Euclidean correlation functions at large momentum. We demonstrate in this work the advantage of analyzing several correlation functions simultaneously and extracting the pion distribution amplitude from a global fit. This approach also allows us to study higher-twist corrections, which are a major source of systematic error. Our result for the higher-twist parameter $\delta^\pi_2$ is in good agreement with estimates from QCD sum rules. Another novel element is the use of all-to-all propagators, calculated using stochastic estimators, which enables an additional volume average of the correlation functions, thereby reducing statistical errors., Comment: 21 pages, 11 figures

The leptonic decay of charged pions is investigated in the presence of background magnetic fields. In this situation Lorentz symmetry is broken and new fundamental decay constants need to be introduced, associated with the decay via the vector part of the electroweak current. We calculate the magnetic field-dependence of both the usual and a new decay constant non-perturbatively on the lattice. We employ both Wilson and staggered quarks and extrapolate the results to the continuum limit. With this non-perturbative input we calculate the tree-level electroweak amplitude for the full decay rate in strong magnetic fields. We find that the muonic decay of the charged pion is enhanced drastically by the magnetic field. We comment on possible astrophysical implications., Comment: 5+3 pages, 4 figures. v3: discussion on systematic errors extended, version accepted for publication in PRL

We have implemented a new way of computing three-point correlation functions. It is based on a factorization of the entire correlation function into two parts which are evaluated with open spin- (and to some extent flavor-) indices. This allows us to estimate the two contributions simultaneously for many different initial and final states and momenta, with little computational overhead. We explain this factorization as well as its efficient implementation in a new library which has been written to provide the necessary functionality on modern parallel architectures and on CPUs, including Intel's Xeon Phi series., Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures, Proceedings of Lattice 2017

The leptonic decay of the charged pion in the presence of background magnetic fields is investigated using quenched Wilson fermions. It is demonstrated that the magnetic field opens up a new channel for this decay. The magnetic field-dependence of the decay constants for both the ordinary and the new channel is determined. Using these inputs from QCD, we calculate the total decay rate perturbatively., Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures, talk presented at the 35th International Symposium on Lattice Field Theory, 18-24 June 2017, Granada, Spain

Following the proposal in [1], we study the feasibility to calculate the pion distribution amplitude (DA) from suitably chosen Euclidean correlation functions at large momentum. In our lattice study we employ the novel momentum smearing technique [2,3]. This approach is complementary to the calculations of the lowest moments of the DA using the Wilson operator product expansion and avoids mixing with lower dimensional local operators on the lattice. The theoretical status of this method is similar to that of quasi-distributions [4], which has recently been applied to the same problem in [5]. The similarities and differences between these two techniques are highlighted., Comment: 8 pages, 7 figures

We determine the light meson spectrum in QCD in the presence of background magnetic fields using quenched Wilson fermions. Our continuum extrapolated results indicate a monotonous reduction of the connected neutral pion mass as the magnetic field grows. The vector meson mass is found to remain nonzero, a finding relevant for the conjectured $\rho$-meson condensation at strong magnetic fields. The continuum extrapolation was facilitated by adding a novel magnetic field-dependent improvement term to the additive quark mass renormalization. Without this term, sizable lattice artifacts that would deceptively indicate an unphysical rise of the connected neutral pion mass for strong magnetic fields are present. We also investigate the impact of these lattice artifacts on further observables like magnetic polarizabilities and discuss the magnetic field-induced mixing between $\rho$-mesons and pions. We also derive Ward-Takashi identities for QCD+QED both in the continuum formulation and for (order $a$-improved) Wilson fermions., Comment: 32 pages, 22 figures; v2: revtex4 format, updated references, extended discussions, included study of finite size effects, conclusions unchanged; v3: improved discussions on crucial points, conclusions unchanged, new version to match published version

We study the change of the QCD spectrum of low-lying mesons in the presence of an external magnetic field using Wilson fermions in the quenched approximation. Motivated by qualitative differences observed in the spectra of overlap and Wilson fermions for large magnetic fields, we investigate the dependence of the additive quark mass renormalisation on the magnetic field. We provide evidence that the magnetic field changes the critical quark mass both in the free case and on our quenched ensemble. The associated change of the bare quark mass with the magnetic field affects the spectrum and is relevant for the magnetic field dependence of a number of related quantities. We derive Ward identities for lattice and continuum QCD+QED from which we can extract the current quark masses. We also report on a first test of the tuning of the quark masses with the magnetic field using the current quark masses, and show that this tuning resolves the qualitative discrepancy between the Wilson and overlap spectra., Comment: 7 Pages, 5 figures, talk presented at the 33rd International Symposium on Lattice Field Theory (Lattice 2015), 14-18 July 2015, Kobe International Conference Center, Kobe, Japan

We give an overview of QPACE 2, which is a custom-designed supercomputer based on Intel Xeon Phi processors, developed in a collaboration of Regensburg University and Eurotech. We give some general recommendations for how to write high-performance code for the Xeon Phi and then discuss our implementation of a domain-decomposition-based solver and present a number of benchmarks., Comment: plenary talk at Lattice 2014, to appear in the conference proceedings PoS(LATTICE2014), 15 pages, 9 figures

We compute the axial, scalar, tensor and pseudoscalar isovector couplings of the nucleon as well as the induced tensor and pseudoscalar charges in lattice simulations with $N_f=2$ mass-degenerate non-perturbatively improved Wilson-Sheikholeslami-Wohlert fermions. The simulations are carried out down to a pion mass of 150 MeV and linear spatial lattice extents of up to 4.6 fm at three different lattice spacings ranging from approximately 0.08 fm to 0.06 fm. Possible excited state contamination is carefully investigated and finite volume effects are studied. The couplings, determined at these lattice spacings, are extrapolated to the physical pion mass. In this limit we find agreement with experimental results, where these exist, with the exception of the magnetic moment. A proper continuum limit could not be performed, due to our limited range of lattice constants, but no significant lattice spacing dependence is detected. Upper limits on discretization effects are estimated and these dominate the error budget., Comment: 22 pages, 31 Figures, v2: comparison with summation method added, minor typos corrected, legibility of figures improved, references added/updated

We present an update of our analysis [1] which includes additional ensembles at different quark masses, lattice spacings and volumes, all with high statistics. We use $N_f=2$ mass-degenerate quark flavours, employing the non-perturbatively improved clover action. The lattice matrix elements are converted to the $\overline{\rm MS}$ scheme via renormalization factors determined non-perturbatively in the RI$^\prime$-MOM scheme. We have systematically investigated excited state contributions, in particular, at the smallest, near physical, pion mass. While our results~(with much increased precision) are consistent with Ref.~[1], comparing with previous determinations we find that excited state contributions can be significant if the quark smearing is not suitably optimized, in agreement with other recent studies. The difference with respect to the value for $\langle x\rangle_{u-d}$ extracted from experimental data is reduced but not resolved. Using lattice sizes in the range $L m_\pi\sim 3.4-6.7$, no significant finite volume effects were observed. Performing a controlled continuum limit that may remove the discrepancy will require simulations at lattice spacings $a< 0.06$ fm., Comment: v2, labelling and visibility of figures improved, very minor changes to text

Using stochastic estimators for connected meson and baryon three-point functions has successfully been tried in the past years. Compared to the standard sequential source method we trade the freedom to compute the current-to-sink propagator independently of the hadron sink for additional stochastic noise in our observables. In the case of the nucleon we can use this freedom to compute many different sink-momentum/polarization combinations, which grants access to more virtualities. We will present preliminary results on the scalar, electro-magnetic and axial form factors of the nucleon in $N_f=2+1$ lattice QCD and contrast the performance of the stochastic method to the sequential source method. We find the stochastic method to be competitive in terms of errors at fixed cost., Comment: presented at the 31st International Symposium on Lattice Field Theory (Lattice 2013), 29 July - 3 August 2013, Mainz, Germany

We determine the second Mellin moment of the isovector quark parton distribution function _{u-d} from lattice QCD with N_f=2 sea quark flavours, employing the non-perturbatively improved Wilson-Sheikholeslami-Wohlert action at a pseudoscalar mass of 157(6) MeV. The result is converted non-perturbatively to the RI'-MOM scheme and then perturbatively to the MSbar scheme at a scale mu = 2 GeV. As the quark mass is reduced we find the lattice prediction to approach the value extracted from experiments., Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, v2: minor updates including journal refs

The effects of electromagnetic interactions on pseudoscalar decay constants are investigated. Using a compact QED and QCD action we are able to resolve differences of about 0.1 MeV. We obtain the preliminary results f_pi^0-f_pi^+/- =0.09(3) MeV and f_D^0-f_D^+/- =0.79(11) MeV for light and charmed pseudoscalar decay constants on a N_f=2 nonperturbatively improved Sheikholeslami-Wohlert ensemble., Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures. Talk presented at the XXIX International Symposium on Lattice Field Theory, Lattice2011, Squaw Valley, Lake Tahoe, California, July 2011