David G. Richards

First results from 2+1 dynamical quark flavors on an anisotropic lattice: Light-hadron spectroscopy and setting the strange-quark mass

We present the first light-hadron spectroscopy on a set of

Physics opportunities with the 12 GeV upgrade at Jefferson Lab

{N}_{f}=2+1

Nucleon structure from mixed action calculations using 2+1 flavors of asqtad sea and domain wall valence fermions

dynamical, anisotropic lattices. A convenient set of coordinates that parameterize the two-dimensional plane of light and strange-quark masses is introduced. These coordinates are used to extrapolate data obtained at the simulated values of the quark masses to the physical light and strange-quark point. A measurement of the Sommer scale on these ensembles is made, and the performance of the hybrid Monte Carlo algorithm used for generating the ensembles is estimated.

Novel quark-field creation operator construction for hadronic physics in lattice QCD

We summarize the scientific opportunities for utilization of the upgraded 12GeV Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility (CEBAF) and associated experimental equipment at Jefferson Lab. This is based primarily on the 52 proposals recommended for approval by the Jefferson Lab Program Advisory Committee to date. The upgraded facility will enable a new experimental program with substantial discovery potential to address important topics in nuclear, hadronic, and electroweak physics.

Isoscalar meson spectroscopy from lattice QCD

We present high statistics results for the structure of the nucleon from a mixed-action calculation using 2+1 flavors of asqtad sea and domain-wall valence fermions. We perform extrapolations of our data based on different chiral effective field theory schemes and compare our results with available information from phenomenology. We discuss vector and axial form factors of the nucleon, moments of generalized parton distributions, including moments of forward parton distributions, and implications for the decomposition of the nucleon spin.

Toward the excited meson spectrum of dynamical QCD

A new quark-field smearing algorithm is defined which enables efficient calculations of a broad range of hadron correlation functions. The technique applies a low-rank operator to define smooth fields that are to be used in hadron creation operators. The resulting space of smooth fields is small enough that all elements of the reduced quark propagator can be computed exactly at reasonable computational cost. Correlations between arbitrary sources, including multihadron operators can be computed a posteriori without requiring new lattice Dirac operator inversions. The method is tested on realistic lattice sizes with light dynamical quarks.

Light hadron spectroscopy using domain wall valence quarks on an Asqtad sea

We extract to high statistical precision an excited spectrum of single-particle isoscalar mesons using lattice QCD, including states of high spin and, for the first time, light exotic JPC isoscalars. The use of a novel quark field construction has enabled us to overcome the long-standing challenge of efficiently including quark-annihilation contributions. Hidden-flavor mixing angles are extracted and while most states are found to be close to ideally flavor mixed, there are examples of large mixing in the pseudoscalar and axial sectors in line with experiment. The exotic JPC isoscalar states appear at a mass scale comparable to the exotic isovector states.

Highly Excited and Exotic Meson Spectrum from Dynamical Lattice QCD

We present a detailed description of the extraction of the highly excited isovector meson spectrum on dynamical anisotropic lattices using a new quark-field construction algorithm and a large variational basis of operators. With careful operator construction, the combination of these techniques is used to identify the continuum spin of extracted states reliably, overcoming the reduced rotational symmetry of the cubic lattice. Excited states, states with exotic quantum numbers (0+-, 1-+ and 2+-) and states of high spin are resolved, including, for the first time in a lattice QCD calculation, spin-four states. The determinations of the spectrum of isovector mesons and kaons are performed on dynamical lattices with two volumes and with pion masses down to ~ 400 MeV, with statistical precision typically at or below 1% even for highly excited states.

Flavor structure of the excited baryon spectra from lattice QCD

We present a calculation of the light-hadron spectrum in full QCD using three-flavor Asqtad sea quarks and domain wall valence quarks. Calculations of meson masses, meson and baryon masses are performed on a lattice of spatial size