U.S.-Federal Republic of Germany Cooperative Research: Lattice Gauge Theory Simulations

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This award supports Professor Bernd Berg of Florida State University and several of his graduate students for >collaborative research visits to the Physics Department of the University of Bielefeld, Federal Republic of Germany, where they will work with Professor Bengt Petersson and others. They are working on a variety of topics in lattice gauge theory and computation, including large scale computer simulations of quantum field theories, in particular Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD). The German group has been working mainly with a Cray computer, and has free access to several supercomputer facilities at Bielefeld and Juelich. Such experience will upgrade the capabilities of the U.S. group, which has been working on Cyber and ETA supercomputers. QCD is the generally accepted candidate for the theory of strong particle interactions. It is typically relevant at scales which are smaller than 1 Fermi = 10 to the minus 12th centimeter. Experimentally such small distances are investigated with large colliders; observations of relics from the very early universe also provide information. There are severe technical difficulties in trying to calculate actual numbers from QCD. Presently, the leading approach to overcome these difficulties is by means of large scale computer simulations. Part of this collaborative proposal is to exploit finite size scaling concepts to shed light on many open QCD problems. Another aspect involves pioneering the use of supercomputers as a new tool for investigating quantum gravity related problems.