QCD Dirac Operator Research Articles

Universal microscopic spectrum of the unquenched QCD Dirac operator at finite temperature

In the ε-regime of chiral perturbation theory the spectral correlations of the Euclidean QCD Dirac operator close to the origin can be computed using random matrix theory. To incorporate the effect of temperature, a random matrix ensemble has been proposed, where a constant, deterministic matrix is added to the Dirac operator. Its eigenvalue correlation functions can be written as the determinant of a kernel that depends on temperature. Due to recent progress in this specific class of random matrix ensembles, featuring a deterministic, additive shift, we can determine the limiting kernel and correlation functions in this class, which is the class of polynomial ensembles. We prove the equivalence between this new determinantal representation of the microscopic eigenvalue correlation functions and existing results in terms of determinants of different sizes, for an arbitrary number of quark flavours, with and without temperature, and extend them to non-zero topology. These results all agree and are thus universal when measured in units of the temperature dependent chiral condensate, as long as we stay below the chiral phase transition.

New universality classes of the non-Hermitian Dirac operator in QCD-like theories

In non-Hermitian random matrix theory there are three universality classes for local spectral correlations: the Ginibre class and the nonstandard classes ${\mathrm{AI}}^{\ifmmode\dagger\else\textdagger\fi{}}$ and ${\mathrm{AII}}^{\ifmmode\dagger\else\textdagger\fi{}}$. We show that the continuum Dirac operator in two-color QCD coupled to a chiral U(1) gauge field or an imaginary chiral chemical potential falls in class ${\mathrm{AI}}^{\ifmmode\dagger\else\textdagger\fi{}}$ (${\mathrm{AII}}^{\ifmmode\dagger\else\textdagger\fi{}}$) for fermions in pseudoreal (real) representations of SU(2). We introduce the corresponding chiral random matrix theories and verify our predictions in lattice simulations with staggered fermions, for which the correspondence between representation and universality class is reversed. Specifically, we compute the complex eigenvalue spacing ratios introduced recently. We also derive novel spectral sum rules.

A multigrid accelerated eigensolver for the Hermitian Wilson–Dirac operator in lattice QCD

Eigenvalues of the Hermitian Wilson–Dirac operator are of special interest in several lattice QCD simulations, e.g., for noise reduction when evaluating all-to-all propagators. In this paper we present a Davidson-type eigensolver that utilizes the structural properties of the Hermitian Wilson–Dirac operator Q to compute eigenpairs of this operator corresponding to small eigenvalues. The main idea is to exploit a synergy between the (outer) eigensolver and its (inner) iterative scheme which solves shifted linear systems. This is achieved by adapting the multigrid DD-αAMG algorithm to a solver for shifted systems involving the Hermitian Wilson–Dirac operator. We demonstrate that updating the coarse grid operator using eigenvector information obtained in the generalized Davidson method is crucial to achieve good performance when calculating many eigenpairs, as our study of the local coherence shows. We compare our method with the commonly used software-packages PARPACK and PRIMME in numerical tests, where we are able to achieve significant improvements, with speed-ups of up to one order of magnitude and a near-linear scaling with respect to the number of eigenvalues. For illustration we compare the distribution of the small eigenvalues of Q on a 64×323 lattice with what is predicted by the Banks–Casher relation in the infinite volume limit.

Wilson chiral perturbation theory for dynamical twisted mass fermions vs lattice data—A case study

We compute the low lying eigenvalues of the Hermitian Dirac operator in lattice QCD with Nf=2+1+1 twisted mass fermions. We discuss whether these eigenvalues are in the ϵ-regime or the p-regime of Wilson chiral perturbation theory (χPT) for twisted mass fermions. Reaching the deep ϵ-regime is practically unfeasible with presently typical simulation parameters, but still the few lowest eigenvalues of the employed ensemble evince some characteristic ϵ-regime features. With this conclusion in mind, we develop a fitting strategy to extract two low energy constants from analytical ϵ-regime predictions at a fixed index. Thus, we obtain results for the chiral condensate and the low energy constant W8. We also discuss how to improve both the theoretical calculation and the lattice computation.

GUE-chGUE transition preserving chirality at finite matrix size

We study a random matrix model which interpolates between the singular values of the Gaussian unitary ensemble (GUE) and of the chiral Gaussian unitary ensemble (chGUE). This symmetry crossover is analogous to the one realized by the Hermitian Wilson Dirac operator in lattice QCD, but our model preserves chiral symmetry of chGUE exactly unlike the Hermitian Wilson Dirac operator. This difference has a crucial impact on the statistics of near-zero eigenvalues, though both singular value statistics build a Pfaffian point process. The model in the present work is motivated by the Dirac operator of 3D staggered fermions, 3D QCD at finite isospin chemical potential, and 4D QCD at high temperature. We calculate the spectral statistics at finite matrix dimension. For this purpose, we derive the joint probability density of the singular values, the skew-orthogonal polynomials and the kernels for the k-point correlation functions. The skew-orthogonal polynomials are constructed by the method of mixing bi-orthogonal and skew-orthogonal polynomials, which is an alternative approach to Mehta’s one. We compare our results with Monte Carlo simulations and study the limits to chGUE and GUE. As a side product, we also calculate a new type of a unitary group integral.

Localization and chiral properties near the ordering transition of an Anderson-like toy model for QCD

The Dirac operator in finite temperature QCD is equivalent to the Hamiltonian of an unconventional Anderson model, with on-site noise provided by the fluctuations of the Polyakov lines. The main features of its spectrum and eigenvectors, concerning the density of low modes and their localization properties, are qualitatively reproduced by a toy-model random Hamiltonian, based on an Ising-type spin model mimicking the dynamics of the Polyakov lines. Here we study the low modes of this toy model in the vicinity of the ordering transition of the spin model, and show that at the critical point the spectral density at the origin has a singularity, and the localization properties of the lowest modes change. This provides further evidence of the close relation between deconfinement, chiral transition and localization of the low modes.

Spectral density of the Dirac operator in two-flavor QCD

We compute the spectral density of the (Hermitean) Dirac operator in Quantum Chromodynamics with two light degenerate quarks near the origin. We use CLS/ALPHA lattices generated with two flavours of O(a)-improved Wilson fermions corresponding to pseudoscalar meson masses down to 190 MeV, and with spacings in the range 0.05-0.08 fm. Thanks to the coverage of parameter space, we can extrapolate our data to the chiral and continuum limits with confidence. The results show that the spectral density at the origin is non-zero because the low modes of the Dirac operator do condense as expected in the Banks-Casher mechanism. Within errors, the spectral density turns out to be a constant function up to eigenvalues of approximately 80 MeV. Its value agrees with the one extracted from the Gell-Mann-Oakes-Renner relation.

Poisson-random matrix transition in the QCD Dirac spectrum

At zero temperature the lowest part of the spectrum of the QCD Dirac operator is known to consist of delocalized modes that are described by random matrix statistics. In the present paper we show that the nature of these eigenmodes changes drastically when the system is driven through the finite temperature crossover. The lowest Dirac modes that are delocalized at low temperature become localized on the scale of the inverse temperature. At the same time the spectral statistics changes from random matrix to Poisson statistics. We demonstrate this with lattice QCD simulations using $2+1$ flavors of light dynamical quarks with physical masses. Drawing an analogy with Anderson transitions we also examine the mobility edge separating localized and delocalized modes in the spectrum. We show that it scales in the continuum limit and increases sharply with the temperature.

Gauge-invariant formalism with a Dirac-mode expansion for confinement and chiral symmetry breaking

Using the eigen-mode of the QCD Dirac operator $\Slash D=\gamma^\mu D^\mu$, we develop a manifestly gauge-covariant expansion and projection of the QCD operators such as the Wilson loop and the Polyakov loop. With this method, we perform a direct analysis of the correlation between confinement and chiral symmetry breaking in lattice QCD Monte Carlo calculation on $6^4$ at $\beta$=5.6. Even after removing the low-lying Dirac modes, which are responsible to chiral symmetry breaking, we find that the Wilson loop obeys the area law, and the slope parameter corresponding to the string tension or the confinement force is almost unchanged. We find also that the Polyakov loop remains to be almost zero even without the low-lying Dirac modes, which indicates the $Z_3$-unbroken confinement phase. These results indicate that one-to-one correspondence does not hold for between confinement and chiral symmetry breaking in QCD.

Compact smallest eigenvalue expressions in Wishart–Laguerre ensembles with or without afixed trace

The degree of entanglement of random pure states in bipartite quantum systems can beestimated from the distribution of the extreme Schmidt eigenvalues. For a bipartition of sizeM ≥ N,these are distributed according to a Wishart–Laguerre ensemble (WL) of random matrices of sizeN × M, with a fixed-trace constraint. We first compute the distribution and moments ofthe smallest eigenvalue in the fixed-trace orthogonal WL ensemble for arbitraryM ≥ N. Our method is based on a Laplace inversion of the recursive results for the correspondingorthogonal WL ensemble given by Edelman. Explicit examples are given for fixedN andM, generalizing and simplifying earlier results. In the microscopic largeN limitwith M − N fixed, the orthogonal and unitary WL distributions exhibit universality after a suitablerescaling and are therefore independent of the constraint. We prove that very recent resultsgiven in terms of hypergeometric functions of matrix argument are equivalent to moreexplicit expressions in terms of a Pfaffian or determinant of Bessel functions. While thelatter were mostly known from the random matrix literature on the QCD Diracoperator spectrum, we also derive some new results in the orthogonal symmetryclass.

Staggered chiral random matrix theory

We present a random matrix theory for the staggered lattice QCD Dirac operator. The staggered random matrix theory is equivalent to the zero-momentum limit of the staggered chiral Lagrangian and includes all taste breaking terms at their leading order. This is an extension of previous work which only included some of the taste breaking terms. We will also present some results for the taste breaking contributions to the partition function and the Dirac eigenvalues.

Absence of Correlations in the QCD Dirac Spectrum at High Temperature

I propose a simple model of the distribution of the small eigenvalues of the QCD Dirac operator well above the finite temperature phase transition where chiral symmetry is restored and the spectral density at zero vanishes. Assuming the absence of correlations between different regions of the low-lying spectrum I derive analytic formulas for the distribution of the first two eigenvalues. I find good agreement with data obtained using the overlap Dirac operator in quenched SU(2) lattice simulations. This suggests that if chiral symmetry is restored spectral correlations are not important and all the statistical properties of the spectrum are encoded in the spectral density.

Characteristics of the eigenvalue distribution of the Dirac operator in dense two-color QCD

We exposit the eigenvalue distribution of the lattice Dirac operator in Quantum Chromodynamics with two colors (i.e. two-color QCD). We explicitly calculate all the eigenvalues in the presence of finite quark chemical potential \mu for a given gauge configuration on the finite-volume lattice. First, we elaborate the Banks-Casher relations in the complex plane extended for the diquark condensate as well as the chiral condensate to relate the eigenvalue spectral density to the physical observable. Next, we evaluate the condensates and clarify the characteristic spectral change corresponding to the phase transition. Assuming the strong coupling limit, we exhibit the numerical results for a random gauge configuration in two-color QCD implemented by the staggered fermion formalism and confirm that our results agree well with the known estimate quantitatively. We then exploit our method in the case of the Wilson fermion formalism with two flavors. Also we elucidate the possibility of the Aoki (parity-flavor broken) phase and conclude from the point of view of the spectral density that the artificial pion condensation is not induced by the density effect in strong-coupling two-color QCD.

Individual Complex Dirac Eigenvalue Distributions from Random Matrix Theory and Comparison to Quenched Lattice QCD with a Quark Chemical Potential

We analyze how individual eigenvalues of the QCD Dirac operator at nonzero quark chemical potential are distributed in the complex plane. Exact and approximate analytical results for both quenched and unquenched distributions are derived from non-Hermitian random matrix theory. When comparing these to quenched lattice QCD spectra close to the origin, excellent agreement is found for zero and nonzero topology at several values of the quark chemical potential. Our analytical results are also applicable to other physical systems in the same symmetry class.

Two-flavor lattice QCD in theϵregime and chiral random matrix theory

The low-lying eigenvalue spectrum of the QCD Dirac operator in the epsilon-regime is expected to match with that of chiral Random Matrix Theory (ChRMT). We study this correspondence for the case including sea quarks by performing two-flavor QCD simulations on the lattice. Using the overlap fermion formulation, which preserves exact chiral symmetry at finite lattice spacings, we push the sea quark mass down to \sim 3 MeV on a 16^3\times 32 lattice at a lattice spacing a \simeq 0.11 fm. We compare the low-lying eigenvalue distributions and find a good agreement with the analytical predictions of ChRMT. By matching the lowest-lying eigenvalue we extract the chiral condensate, \Sigma(2 GeV)[MSbar] = [251(7)(11) MeV]^3, where errors represent statistical and higher order effects in the epsilon expansion. We also calculate the eigenvalue distributions on the lattices with heavier sea quarks at two lattice spacings. Although the epsilon expansion is not applied for those sea quarks, we find a reasonable agreement of the Dirac operator spectrum with ChRMT. The value of Sigma, after extrapolating to the chiral limit, is consistent with the estimate in the epsilon-regime.

Is the chiral phase transition induced by a metal-insulator transition?

We investigate the QCD Dirac operator with gauge configurations given by a liquid of instantons in the region of temperatures about the chiral phase transition. Both the quenched and unquenched cases are examined in detail. We present evidence of a localization transition in the low lying modes of the Dirac operator around the same temperature as the chiral phase transition. Thus both level statistics and eigenvectors of the QCD Dirac operator at the chiral phase transition have similar properties than those of a disordered conductor at the metal-insulator transition. This strongly suggests the phenomenon of Anderson localization (localization by destructive quantum interference) is the leading physical mechanism in the restoration of the chiral symmetry. Finally we argue that our findings are not in principle restricted to the ILM approximation and may also be found in lattice simulations.

Chiral phase transition in lattice QCD as a metal-insulator transition

We investigate the lattice QCD Dirac operator with staggered fermions at temperatures around the chiral phase transition. We present evidence of a metal-insulator transition in the low lying modes of the Dirac operator around the same temperature as the chiral phase transition. This strongly suggests the phenomenon of Anderson localization drives the QCD vacuum to the chirally symmetric phase in a way similar to a metal-insulator transition in a disordered conductor. We also discuss how Anderson localization affects the usual phenomenological treatment of phase transitions a la Ginzburg-Landau.

Semiclassical limits for the QCD Dirac operator

We identify three semiclassical parameters in the QCD Dirac operator. Mutual coupling of the different types of degrees of freedom (translational, colour and spin) depends on how the semiclassical limit is taken. We discuss various semiclassical limits and their potential to describe spectrum and spectral statistics of the QCD Dirac operator close to zero virtuality.

Chiral phase transition and Anderson localization in the instanton liquid model for QCD

We study the spectrum and eigenmodes of the QCD Dirac operator in a gauge background given by an instanton liquid model (ILM) at temperatures around the chiral phase transition. Generically we find the Dirac eigenvectors become more localized as the temperature is increased. At the chiral phase transition, both the low lying eigenmodes and the spectrum of the QCD Dirac operator undergo a transition to localization similar to the one observed in a disordered conductor. This suggests that Anderson localization is the fundamental mechanism driving the chiral phase transition. We also find an additional temperature dependent mobility edge (separating delocalized from localized eigenstates) in the bulk of the spectrum which moves toward lower eigenvalues as the temperature is increased. In both regions, the origin and the bulk, the transition to localization exhibits features of a 3D Anderson transition including multifractal eigenstates and spectral properties that are well described by critical statistics. Similar results are obtained in both the quenched and the unquenched case though the critical temperature in the unquenched case is lower. Finally we argue that our findings are not in principle restricted to the ILM approximation and may also be found in lattice simulations.

Stability of lattice QCD simulations and the thermodynamic limit

We study the spectral gap of the Wilson--Dirac operator in two-flavour lattice QCD as a function of the lattice spacing $a$, the space-time volume $V$ and the current-quark mass $m$. It turns out that the median of the probability distribution of the gap scales proportionally to $m$ and that its width is practically equal to $a/\sqrt{V}$. In particular, numerical simulations are safe from accidental zero modes in the large-volume regime of QCD.