Studying gauge geometry in lattice QCD

• Grant number: 23/17984-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: September 01, 2024
• End date: March 31, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Physics - Elementary Particle Physics and Fields
• Principal Investigator: Tereza Cristina da Rocha Mendes
• Grantee: João Octavio Kül
• Host Institution: Instituto de Física de São Carlos (IFSC). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Carlos , SP, Brazil

Abstract

This project proposes an initial formation for the student João Octavio Kül on the research area of Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD) on the lattice formalism. In particular, it is intended to investigate the geometric aspects of gauge configurations space associated to the color confinement mechanism on QCD and similar theories. The so-called Gribov-Zwanziger scenario, which associates the description for the confinement phenomenon to properties of Green's functions of the theory's fundamental fields, has predictions that will be tested in this project. According to this scenario, these properties are associated to the relevance of specific regions on the gauge space, which can be tested using numerical QCD simulations (and with Yang-Mills theories in general) using the lattice formulation. Recent lattice QCD results will be considered as a reference, in particular those from the research group at IFSC-USP. As an introduction, upcoming topics will be covered, such as the numerical simulation of the Ising's spins model, whose computational implementation with the Monte Carlo method can later be adapted and extended for the Yang-Mills theory with the gauge group SU(2).