Particle Physics and Lattice Gauge Theory

粒子物理和晶格规范理论

• 批准号: 0852438
• 负责人: E. Tomboulis
• 金额: $ 18万
• 依托单位: University of California-Los Angeles
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2009
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2009-09-15 至 2012-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0852438&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Particle; Physics; Lattice; Gauge; Theory

Over the last several years the structure of the QCD vacuum over different length scales and the mechanisms of confinement have been the focus of intense activity among workers in lattice gauge theory. Lattice gauge theory provides the only available framework for the quantitative investigation of such entirely nonperturbative phenomena. Research in this project is in the areas of QCD improved actions; confinement and QCD vacuum physics; deconfinement transition dynamics; and the quark-gluon plasma in heavy ion collisions. A goal of the proposed research is to further develop systematic procedures that connect the short distance (perturbative) to the long distance (non-perturbative) confining regime in the QCD vacuum. It thus contributes towards directly extracting confinement from QCD, a long-standing goal of theoretical particle physics. It also leads to the construction of improved actions on coarser lattices for accurate determination of string tensions and other observables with reduced discretization errors and computational effort. The second area of the project is that of deconfinement dynamics and heavy ion collisions. The recent experimental discoveries at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) have generated wide interest. In particular, the mechanism responsible for the apparent very rapid thermalization in the resulting strongly-coupled quarkgluon plasma above deconfinement remains an unresolved question and the focus of intense activity. Simulation methods for non-equilibrium field theory must be developed to properly address such questions. In this project such novel methods are to be investigated by detailed lattice studies that are a natural continuation of simulations on deconfinement dynamics under previous NSF support.Broader Impacts of this project are that the proposed research in Lattice Gauge Theory involves state-of-the-art methods in Computational Physics that are of wide applicability in the Natural and Biological Sciences and Engineering. As such it provides excellent training in such techniques to graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. For example, graduate students engaged in previously funded projects by this investigator are currently active in engineering and biological research projects. The project can also serve, as it has in the recent past, as a source for mini projects in computation and statistical physics at the upper division undergraduate level. The interplay between experimental discoveries (RHIC) and theoretical/computational physics present in this project has also provided illustrative material for the principal investigator's outreach activities to high school science teachers and students.

在过去的几年里，不同长度尺度上的QCD真空结构和约束机制一直是晶格规范理论工作者关注的焦点。点阵规范理论为定量研究这种完全非微扰现象提供了唯一可用的框架。本项目的研究领域是质量光盘改进行动；约束与QCD真空物理；去定义转换动力学；以及重离子碰撞中的夸克-胶子等离子体。提出的研究目标是进一步发展系统的程序，将QCD真空中的短距离（微扰）约束制度与长距离（非微扰）约束制度联系起来。因此，它有助于直接从QCD中提取约束，这是理论粒子物理学的一个长期目标。它还导致在更粗糙的晶格上构建改进的动作，以精确地确定弦张力和其他可观测值，减少离散误差和计算工作量。项目的第二个领域是定义动力学和重离子碰撞。最近在相对论重离子对撞机（RHIC）上的实验发现引起了广泛的兴趣。特别是，在定义以上产生的强耦合夸克胶子等离子体中明显非常迅速的热化机制仍然是一个未解决的问题，也是激烈活动的焦点。必须发展非平衡场论的模拟方法来适当地解决这些问题。在这个项目中，这种新颖的方法将通过详细的晶格研究来研究，这是在以前的NSF支持下对定义动力学模拟的自然延续。该项目的更广泛影响是，晶格规范理论的拟议研究涉及计算物理学中最先进的方法，这些方法在自然和生物科学与工程中具有广泛的适用性。因此，它为研究生和博士后提供了这种技术的优秀培训。例如，从事该研究者以前资助的项目的研究生目前活跃在工程和生物研究项目中。这个项目也可以服务，就像它在最近的过去一样，作为高年级本科生计算和统计物理的小型项目的来源。实验发现（RHIC）和理论/计算物理之间的相互作用在这个项目中也为首席研究员对高中科学教师和学生的推广活动提供了说明性材料。