These six lecture courses provide the background necessary in the understanding of the application of lattice methods to phenomenology, and give examples of interesting applications. The first three introduce the necessary techniques: chiral perturbation theory, heavy quark effective field theory, and lattice gauge theory. The remaining three describe how these techniques are used, mainly in lattice simulations, in the study of interesting phenomenological questions: vacuum structure, finite temperature QCD, and electroweak matrix elements. What distinguishes this volume from others is its focus on providing the background necessary for us to understand the methods and the significance of lattice gauge theory research.

Lattice 89

Lattice 91 covers the proceedings of the International Symposium on Lattice Field Theory held in Tsukuba, Japan on 5-9 November 1991. The book focuses on quantum chromodynamics, Higgs-fermion theories, QED, lattice quantum gravity and random surfaces, spin systems related to field theory, simulation algorithms, and dedicated computers. The selection first offers information on the QCD spectrum and phase diagram on the lattice and QCD at finite density, including phase structure of QCD, Monte-Carlo simulations with dynamical fermions, and quenched approximation. The book then tackles weak matrix elements, simulation of heavy quarks, and sphaleron induced baryon number non-conservation. The text reviews quantum gravity and random surfaces, recent analytic progress in finite size effects, and parallel QCD machines. Discussions focus on two-dimensional quantum gravity, signatures of resonance in finite volume, first order transitions, and determination of the running coupling. The publication also ponders on hadronic forces from the lattice, universality of the confinement string in multiple potentials, and confinement and saddle-point configurations. The selection is highly recommended for readers interested in the lattice field theory.

ABSTRACT: Heavy-ion collision experiments carried out at the Brookhaven National Laboratory, or BNL, and at the European Organization for Nuclear Research, or CERN, provide evidence that matter can be driven from a confined, low-temperature phase into a deconfined high temperature phase of liberated quarks and gluons. Understanding of the deconfinement transition can bring our knowledge of strongly-interacting matter to a deeper level. Ab initio equilibrium studies of the thermodynamic equation of state in the deconfined phase are possible in the framework of lattice gauge theory. It is often desired in such studies to approach the infinite volume thermodynamic limit. To accomplish it quickly, most studies have implemented lattices with periodic boundary conditions. However, the physical volumes created at the Brookhaven National Laboratory are small and exploratory work for pure SU(3) lattice gauge theory suggests that boundary effects cannot be neglected. In this work we study the SU(3) deconfined equilibrium phase in small volumes with inside and outside temperatures in the SU(3) scaling region, using a lattice geometry of the double-layered torus. Our results show substantial finite size effects on the deconfining transition temperature under realistic boundary conditions.