Correct Continuum Limit Research Articles

Toward a Ginsparg-Wilson lattice Hamiltonian

To address quantum computation of quantities in quantum chromodynamics (QCD) for which chiral symmetry is important, it would be useful to have the Hamiltonian for a fermion satisfying the Ginsparg-Wilson (GW) equation. I work with a solution to the GW equation which is fractional linear in time derivatives. The resulting Hamiltonian is nonlocal and has ghosts, but is free of doublers and has the correct continuum limit. This construction works in general odd spatial dimensions, and I provide an explicit expression for the Hamiltonian in one spatial dimension. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Performance of reservoir discretizations in quantum transport simulations.

Quantum transport simulations often use explicit, yet finite, electronic reservoirs. These should converge to the correct continuum limit, albeit with a trade-off between discretization and computational cost. Here, we study this interplay for extended reservoir simulations, where relaxation maintains a bias or temperature drop across the system. Our analysis begins in the non-interacting limit, where we parameterize different discretizations to compare them on an even footing. For many-body systems, we develop a method to estimate the relaxation that best approximates the continuum by controlling virtual transitions in Kramers turnover for the current. While some discretizations are more efficient for calculating currents, there is little benefit with regard to the overall state of the system. Any gains become marginal for many-body, tensor network simulations, where the relative performance of discretizations varies when sweeping other numerical controls. These results indicate that typical reservoir discretizations have little impact on numerical costs for certain computational tools. The choice of a relaxation parameter is nonetheless crucial, and the method we develop provides a reliable estimate of the optimal relaxation for finite reservoirs.

Moving frames and Noether’s finite difference conservation laws I

AbstractWe consider the calculation of Euler–Lagrange systems of ordinary difference equations, including the difference Noether’s theorem, in the light of the recently-developed calculus of difference invariants and discrete moving frames. We introduce the difference moving frame, a natural discrete moving frame that is adapted to difference equations by prolongation conditions. For any Lagrangian that is invariant under a Lie group action on the space of dependent variables, we show that the Euler–Lagrange equations can be calculated directly in terms of the invariants of the group action. Furthermore, Noether’s conservation laws can be written in terms of a difference moving frame and the invariants. We show that this form of the laws can significantly ease the problem of solving the Euler–Lagrange equations, and we also show how to use a difference frame to integrate Lie group invariant difference equations. In this Part I, we illustrate the theory by applications to Lagrangians invariant under various solvable Lie groups. The theory is also generalized to deal with variational symmetries that do not leave the Lagrangian invariant. Apart from the study of systems that are inherently discrete, one significant application is to obtain geometric (variational) integrators that have finite difference approximations of the continuous conservation laws embedded a priori. This is achieved by taking an invariant finite difference Lagrangian in which the discrete invariants have the correct continuum limit to their smooth counterparts. We show the calculations for a discretization of the Lagrangian for Euler’s elastica, and compare our discrete solution to that of its smooth continuum limit.

Physical brain connectomics

Brain connectivity and structure-function relationships are analyzed from a physical perspective in place of common graph-theoretic and statistical approaches that overwhelmingly ignore the brain's physical structure and geometry. Field theory is used to define connectivity tensors in terms of bare and dressed propagators, and discretized representations are implemented that respect the physical nature and dimensionality of the quantities involved, retain the correct continuum limit, and enable diagrammatic analysis. Eigenfunction analysis is used to simultaneously characterize and probe patterns of brain connectivity and activity, in place of statistical or phenomenological patterns. Physically based measures that characterize the connectivity are then developed in coordinate and spectral domains; some of which generalize or rectify graph-theoretic measures to implement correct dimensionality and continuum limits, and some replace graph-theoretic quantities. Traditional graph-based measures are shown to be highly prone to artifacts introduced by discretization and threshold, often because essential physical constraints have not been imposed, dimensionality has not been included, and/or distinctions between scalar, vector, and tensor quantities have not been considered. The results can replace them in ways that converge correctly and measure properties of brain structure, rather than of its discretization, and thus potentially enable physical interpretation of the many phenomenological results in the literature. Geometric effects are shown to dominate in determining many brain properties and care must be taken not to interpret geometric differences as differences in intrinsic neural connectivity. The results demonstrate the need to use systematic physical methods to analyze the brain and the potential of such methods to obtain new insights from data, make new predictions for experimental test, and go beyond phenomenological classification to dynamics and mechanisms.

Formula omitted] improvement of 2D [formula omitted] lattice SYM theory

We perform a tree-level O(a) improvement of two-dimensional N=(2,2) supersymmetric Yang–Mills theory on the lattice, motivated by the fast convergence in numerical simulations. The improvement respects an exact supersymmetry Q which is needed for obtaining the correct continuum limit without a parameter fine tuning. The improved lattice action is given within a milder locality condition in which the interactions are decaying as the exponential of the distance on the lattice. We also prove that the path-integral measure is invariant under the improved Q-transformation.

Analytical expression for the friction coefficient of DLCA aggregates based on extended Kirkwood–Riseman theory

ABSTRACTWe use a self-consistent field method, which we have previously validated, to calculate the translational friction coefficient of fractal aerosol particles formed by diffusion-limited cluster aggregation (DLCA). Our method involves solving the Bhatnagar–Gross–Krook model for the velocity around a sphere in the transition flow regime. The velocity and drag results are then used in an extension of Kirkwood–Riseman theory to obtain the drag on the aggregate. Our results span a range of primary sphere Knudsen numbers from 0.01 to 100 for clusters with up to N = 2000 primary spheres. Calculated friction coefficients are in good agreement with experimental data and approach the correct continuum and free molecule limits for small and large Knudsen numbers, respectively. Results show that particles exhibit more continuum-like behavior as the number of primary spheres increase, even when the primary particle is in the free molecule regime; as an illustrative example, the friction coefficient for aggregate...

Friction factor for aerosol fractal aggregates over the entire Knudsen range.

We develop an approach for computing the hydrodynamic friction tensor and scalar friction coefficient for an aerosol fractal aggregate in the transition regime. Our approach involves solving the Bhatnagar-Gross-Krook equation for the velocity field around a sphere and using the velocity field to calculate the force on each primary sphere in the aggregate due to the presence of the other spheres. It is essentially an extension of Kirkwood-Riseman theory from the continuum flow regime to the entire Knudsen range (Knudsen number from 0.01 to 100 based on the primary sphere radius). Our results compare well to published direct simulation Monte Carlo results, and they converge to the correct continuum and free molecule limits. Our calculations for clusters with up to 100 spheres support the theory that aggregate slip correction factors collapse to a single curve when plotted as a function of an appropriate aggregate Knudsen number. This self-consistent-field approach calculates the friction coefficient very quickly, so the approach is well-suited for testing existing scaling laws in the field of aerosol science and technology, as we demonstrate for the adjusted sphere scaling method.

New insight into the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless phase transition

We investigate the 2d XY model by using the constraint angle action, which belongs to the class of topological lattice actions. These actions violate important features usually demanded for a lattice action, such as the correct classical continuum limit and the applicability of perturbation theory. Nevertheless, they still lead to the same universal quantum continuum limit and show excellent scaling behavior. By using the constraint angle action we gain new insight into the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless phase transition of the 2d XY model. This phase transition is of special interest since it is one of the few examples of a phase transition beyond second order. It is of infinite order and therefore an essential phase transition. In particular, we observe an excellent scaling behavior of the helicity modulus, which characterizes this phase transition. We also observe that the mechanism of (un)binding vortex-anti-vortex pairs follows the usual pattern, although free vortices do not require any energy in the formulation of the 2d XY model using the constraint angle action.

New chiral lattice actions of the Boriçi-Creutz type

We generalize the Borici-Creutz action in such a way that the position of the second zero and the direction which breaks the hypercubic symmetry can be arbitrarily chosen, and the action has still the correct continuum limit. Minimal doubling is guaranteed if the distance between the two zeros does not become too large. Special values of this distance could turn out to be particularly convenient for efficient numerical simulations of minimally doubled fermions.

Models for twistable elastic polymers in Brownian dynamics, and their implementation for LAMMPS

An elastic rod model for semi-flexible polymers is presented. Theory for a continuum rod is reviewed, and it is shown that a popular discretised model used in numerical simulations gives the correct continuum limit. Correlation functions relating to both bending and twisting of the rod are derived for both continuous and discrete cases, and results are compared with numerical simulations. Finally, two possible implementations of the discretised model in the multi-purpose molecular dynamics software package LAMMPS are described.

Casimir interactions in semiflexible polymers

We investigate the Casimir or fluctuation-induced interaction between two cross-linkers bound to the same semiflexible filament. The calculation is complicated by the appearance of second-order derivatives in the bending Hamiltonian for such filaments, which requires a careful evaluation of the the path integral formulation of the partition function in order to arrive at the physically correct continuum limit and properly address ultraviolet divergences. Doing so based on the previous work of Kleinert [Kleinert, J. Math. Phys. 27, 3003 (1986)], we find that cross-linkers interact along a filament with an attractive logarithmic potential proportional to thermal energy. The proportionality constant depends on whether and how the cross-linkers constraint the relative angle between the two filaments to which they are bound. We comment on the implications of this Casimir interaction for equilibrium distribution of labile cross-linkers in semiflexible biopolymer, e.g., F-actin, networks, and bundles.

Lattice oscillator model, scattering theory and a many-body problem

We propose a model for the quantum harmonic oscillator on a discrete lattice which can be written in a supersymmetric form, in contrast with the more direct discretization of the harmonic oscillator. Its ground state is easily found to be annihilated by the annihilation operator defined here, and its excitation spectrum is obtained numerically. We then define an operator whose continuum limit corresponds to an angular momentum in terms of the creation–annihilation operators of our model. Coherent states with the correct continuum limit are also constructed. The versatility of the model is then used to calculate, in a simple way, the generalized position-dependent scattering length for a particle colliding with a single static impurity in a periodic potential and the exact ground state of an interacting many-body problem in a one-dimensional ring.

Topological lattice actions

We consider lattice field theories with topological actions, which are invariant against small deformations of the fields. Some of these actions have infinite barriers separating different topological sectors. Topological actions do not have the correct classical continuum limit and they cannot be treated using perturbation theory, but they still yield the correct quantum continuum limit. To show this, we present analytic studies of the 1-d O(2) and O(3) model, as well as Monte Carlo simulations of the 2-d O(3) model using topological lattice actions. Some topological actions obey and others violate a lattice Schwarz inequality between the action and the topological charge Q. Irrespective of this, in the 2-d O(3) model the topological susceptibility \chi_t = \l< Q^2 >/V is logarithmically divergent in the continuum limit. Still, at non-zero distance the correlator of the topological charge density has a finite continuum limit which is consistent with analytic predictions. Our study shows explicitly that some classically important features of an action are irrelevant for reaching the correct quantum continuum limit.

Complete supersymmetry on the lattice and a No-Go theorem

In this work a lattice formulation of a supersymmetric theory is proposed and tested that preserves the complete supersymmetry on the lattice. The results of a onedimensional nonperturbative simulation show the realization of the full supersymmetry and the correct continuum limit of the theory. It is proven here that the violation of supersymmetry due to the absence of the Leibniz rule on the lattice can be amended only with a nonlocal derivative and nonlocal interaction term. The fermion doubling problem is also discussed, which leads to another important source of supersymmetry breaking on the lattice. This problem is also solved with a nonlocal realization.

Diffeomorphism Symmetry in Quantum Gravity Models

We review and discuss the role of diffeomorphism symmetry in quantum gravity models. Such models often involve a discretization of the space-time manifold as a regularization method. Generically this leads to a breaking of the symmetries to approximate ones, however there are incidences in which the symmetries are exactly preserved. Both kind of symmetries have to be taken into account in covariant and canonical theories in order to ensure the correct continuum limit. We will sketch how to identify exact and approximate symmetries in the action and how to define a corresponding canonical theory in which such symmetries are reflected as exact and approximate constraints.

Emergent diffeomorphism invariance in a discrete loop quantum gravity model

Several approaches to the dynamics of loop quantum gravity involve discretizing the equations of motion. The resulting discrete theories are known to be problematic since the first-class algebra of constraints of the continuum theory becomes second class upon discretization. If one treats the second-class constraints properly, the resulting theories have very different dynamics and number of degrees of freedom than those of the continuum theory. It is therefore questionable how these theories could be considered a starting point for the quantization and the definition of a continuum theory through a continuum limit. We show explicitly in a model that the uniform discretizations approach to the quantization of constrained systems overcomes these difficulties. We consider here a simple diffeomorphism invariant one-dimensional model and complete the quantization using uniform discretizations. The model can be viewed as a spherically symmetric reduction of the well-known Husain–Kuchař model of diffeomorphism invariant theory. We show that the correct quantum continuum limit can be satisfactorily constructed for this model. This opens the possibility of treating (1 + 1)-dimensional dynamical situations of great interest in quantum gravity taking into account the full dynamics of the theory and preserving the spacetime covariance at a quantum level.

Thermodynamics of the ideal overlap quarks on the lattice

The thermodynamics of massless ideal gas of overlap quarks has been investigated both analytically and numerically for both zero and nonzero baryon chemical potential. Any ${\ensuremath{\mu}}^{2}$ divergence is shown analytically to be absent for a class of actions with nonzero chemical potential. All such actions are shown to violate chiral invariance. While the parameter $M$ can be shown to be irrelevant in the continuum limit, as expected, it is shown numerically that the continuum limit can be reached with relatively coarser lattices for $1.5\ensuremath{\le}M\ensuremath{\le}1.6$. Numerical limitations of the existing method of introduction of chemical potential are demonstrated. Finally we also show that the energy density for the massive overlap fermions has the correct continuum limit.

Relations among supersymmetric lattice gauge theories via orbifolding

We show how to derive Catterall's supersymmetric lattice gauge theories directly from the general principle of orbifolding followed by a variant of the usual deconstruction. These theories are forced to be complexified due to a clash between charge assignments under U(1)-symmetries and lattice assignments in terms of scalar, vector and tensor components for the fermions. Other prescriptions for how to discretize the theory follow automatically by orbifolding and deconstruction. We find that Catterall's complexified model for the two-dimensional = (2, 2) theory has two independent preserved supersymmetries. We comment on consistent truncations to lattice theories without this complexification and with the correct continuum limit. The construction of lattice theories this way is general, and can be used to derive new supersymmetric lattice theories through the orbifolding procedure. As an example, we apply the prescription to topologically twisted four-dimensional = 2 supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory. We show that a consistent truncation is closely related to the lattice formulation previously given by Sugino.

Four-momentum boosted fermion fields

A formulation of the fermion action is discussed which includes an explicit four momentum boost on the field prior to discretisation. This is used to shift the zero of lattice momentum to lie near one of the on-shell quark poles. The positive pole is selected if we wish to describe a valence quark, and negative pole for a valence antiquark. Like NRQCD, the typical lattice momenta involved in hadronic correlation functions can be kept small: of order O(αΛQCD), rather than O(amQ) even when describing heavy quarks. If we expand around the particle pole, the anti-particle correlator will be poorly described for large amQ. However, in that case the anti-particle will be far off shell and will only affect unphysical, renormalization factors. The formulation produces the correct continuum limit, and preliminary results have been obtained (for an unimproved action) of both the one-loop self energy and a non-perturbative correlation function.

Axial anomaly and index of the overlap hypercube operator

The overlap hypercube fermion is constructed by inserting a lattice fermion with hypercubic couplings into the overlap formula. One obtains an exact Ginsparg-Wilson fermion, which is more complicated than the standard overlap fermion, but which has improved practical properties and is of current interest for use in numerical simulations. Here we deal with conceptual aspects of the overlap hypercube Dirac operator. Specifically, we evaluate the axial anomaly and the index, demonstrating that the correct classical continuum limit is recovered. Our derivation is non-perturbative and therefore valid in all topological sectors. At the non-perturbative level this result had previously only been shown for the standard overlap Dirac operator with Wilson kernel. The new techniques which we develop to accomplish this are of a general nature and have the potential to be extended to overlap Dirac operators with even more general kernels.