16120128
Bulk thermodynamics and charge fluctuations at non-vanishing baryon density
We present results on bulk thermodynamic quantities as well as net baryon number, strangeness and electric charge fluctuations in QCD at non-zero density and temperature obtained from lattice calculations with almost physical quark masses for two values of the lattice cut-off aT = 1/4 and 1/6. We show that with our improved p4fa3-action the cut-off effects are under control when using lattices with a temporal extent of 6 or larger and that the contribution to the equation of state, which is due to a finite chemical potential is small for {mu}{sub q}/T < 1. Moreover, at vanishing chemical potential, i.e. under conditions almost realized at RHIC and the LHC, quartic fluctuations of net baryon number and strangeness are large in a narrow temperature interval characterizing the transition region from the low to high temperature phase. At non-zero baryon number density, strangeness fluctuations are enhanced and correlated to fluctuations of the net baryon number. If strangeness is furthermore forced to vanish, as it may be the case in systems created in heavy ion collisions, strangeness fluctuations are significantly smaller than baryon number fluctuations.
54034495
On the universal critical behavior in 3-flavor QCD
We analyze the universal critical behavior at the chiral critical point in QCD with three degenerate quark masses. We confirm that this critical point lies in the universality class of the three dimensional Ising model. The symmetry of the Ising model, which is Z(2), is not directly realized in the QCD Hamiltonian. After making an ansatz for the magnetization- and energy-like operators as linear admixtures of the chiral condensate and the gluonic action, we determine several non-universal mixing and normalization constants. These parameters determine an unambiguous mapping of the critical behavior in QCD to that of the 3d-Ising model. We verify its validity by showing that the thus obtained orderparameter scales in accordance with the magnetic equation of state of the 3d-Ising model.
16115905
Flavor and quark mass dependence of QCD thermodynamics
We calculate the transition temperature in 2 and 3-flavor QCD using improved gauge and staggered fermion actions on lattices with temporal extent Nτ = 4. We find Tc = 173 (8) MeV and 154 (8) MeV for nf = 2 and 3, respectively. In the case of 3-flavor QCD we present evidence that the chiral critical point, i.e. the second order endpoint of the line of first order chiral phase transitions, belongs to the universality class of the 3d Ising model.
14794189
The density of states method at non-zero chemical potential
We study the QCD phase diagram by first principle lattice calculations at so far unreached high densities. For this purpose we employ the density of states method. Unimproved staggered fermions, which describe four quark flavors in the continuum are used in this analysis. Though the method is quite expensive, small lattices show an indication for a triple-point connecting three different phases on the phase diagram.
119274896
Quark number susceptibilities at high temperatures
We calculate second and fourth order quark number susceptibilities for 2+1 flavor QCD in the high temperature region. In our study we use two improved staggered fermion formulations, namely the highly improved staggered quark formulation, and the so-called p4 formulation, as well as several lattice spacings. Second order quark number susceptibilities are calculated using both improved staggered fermion formulations, and we show that in the continuum limit the two formulations give consistent results. The fourth order quark number susceptibilities are studied only using the p4 formulation and at non-zero lattice spacings. We compare our results on quark number susceptibilities with recent weak coupling calculations, and find that these agree reasonably well with the lattice calculations within the estimated uncertainties.
17537588
Lattice simulations with chemical potential
After giving an overview of recently invented methods for simulating lattice QCD at small mu/T, we discuss some results for bulk thermodynamic quantities of QCD matter coming from those methods. We focus on the transition line and the critical endpoint in the QCD phase diagram.
17272111
Effects of fermion localization in Higgsless theories and electroweak constraints
Abstract Extra-dimensional Higgsless models with electroweak symmetry breaking through boundary conditions generically have difficulties with electroweak precision constraints, when the fermions are localized to the “branes” in the fifth dimension. In this Letter we show that these constraints can be relaxed by allowing the light fermions to have a finite extent into the bulk of the fifth dimension. The T and U electroweak parameters can be naturally suppressed by a custodial symmetry, while the S parameter can be made to vanish through a cancellation, if the leakage into the bulk of the light gauge fields and the light left-handed fermion fields are of the same size. This cancellation is possible while allowing realistic values for the first two generations of fermion masses, although special treatment is probably required for the top quark. We present this idea here in the context of a specific continuum theory-space model; however, it can be applied to any five-dimensional Higgsless model, either with a flat or a warped background.
15351369
Charm production in deep inelastic scattering from threshold to high Q2
Charm final states in deep inelastic scattering constitute ~ 25% of the inclusive cross-section at small x as measured at HERA. These data can reveal important information on the charm and gluon structure of the nucleon if they are interpreted in a consistent perturbative QCD framework which is valid over the entire energy range from threshold to the high energy limit. We describe in detail how this can be carried out order-by-order in PQCD in the generalized MSbar formalism of Collins (generally known as the ACOT approach), and demonstrate the inherent smooth transition from the 3-flavor to the 4-flavor scheme in a complete order αs calculation, using a Monte Carlo implementation of this formalism. This calculation is accurate to the same order as the conventional NLO F2 calculation in the limit Q/mc >> 1. It includes the resummed large logarithm contributions of the 3-flavor scheme (generally known in this context as the fixed-flavor-number or FFN scheme) to all orders of αsln (mc2/Q2). For the inclusive structure function, comparison with recent HERA data and the existing FFN calculation reveals that the relatively simple order-αs (NLO) 4-flavor (mc≠0) calculation can, in practice, be extended to rather low energy scales, yielding good agreement with data over the full measured Q2 range. The Monte Carlo implementation also allows the calculation of differential distributions with relevant kinematic cuts. Comparisons with available HERA data show qualitative agreement; however, they also indicate the need to extend the calculation to the next order to obtain better description of the differential distributions.
6678978
Ultrahigh-energy neutrino–nucleon cross sections and perturbative unitarity
Abstract Unitarity relates the total cross section for neutrino–nucleon scattering to the neutrino–nucleon forward scattering amplitude. Assuming the validity of the perturbative expansion of the forward amplitude in the weak coupling constant, we derive a unitarity bound on the inelastic cross section. The inelastic cross section saturates this bound at a typical neutrino energy E ν ≃10 8  GeV. This implies that calculations of the inelastic cross section that use current parton distribution functions and lowest order weak perturbation theory are unreliable above this energy.
53607643
Intrinsic Charm Parton Distribution Functions from CTEQ-TEA Global Analysis
Sayipjamal Dulat, 2, ∗ Tie-Jiun Hou, Jun Gao, Joey Huston, Jon Pumplin, Carl Schmidt, Daniel Stump, and C.–P. Yuan † 1 School of Physics Science and Technology, Xinjiang University, Urumqi, Xinjiang 830046 China 2 Department of Physics and Astronomy, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824 U.S.A. 3 Institute of Physics, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan 115 4 Department of Physics, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX 75275-0181, U.S.A.
17634589
Radiative electroweak symmetry breaking in a Little Higgs model
We present a new Little Higgs model, motivated by the deconstruction of a five-dimensional gauge-Higgs model. The approximate global symmetry is SO(5)0 × SO(5)1, breaking to SO(5), with a gauged subgroup of [SU(2)0L × U(1)0R] × O(4)1, breaking to SU(2)L ×U(1)Y . Radiative corrections produce an additional small vacuum misalignment, breaking the electroweak symmetry down to U(1)EM. Novel features of this model are: the only un-eaten pseudo-Goldstone boson in the effective theory is the Higgs boson; the model contains a custodial symmetry, which ensures that $ \widehat{T} = 0 $ at tree-level; and the potential for the Higgs boson is generated entirely through one-loop radiative corrections. A small negative mass-squared in the Higgs potential is obtained by a cancellation between the contribution of two heavy partners of the top quark, which is readily achieved over much of the parameter space. We can then obtain both a vacuum expectation value of v = 246 GeV and a light Higgs boson mass, which is strongly correlated with the masses of the two heavy top quark partners. For a scale of the global symmetry breaking of f = 1 TeV and using a single cutoff for the fermion loops, the Higgs boson mass satisfies 120 GeV ≲ MH ≲ 150 GeV over much of the range of parameter space. For f raised to 10 TeV, these values increase by about 40 GeV. Effects at the ultraviolet cutoff scale may also raise the predicted values of the Higgs boson mass, but the model still favors MH ≲ 200GeV.