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Title: Lattice simulations of real-time quantum fields

Journal Article · · Physical Review. D, Particles Fields
;  [1]; ;  [2]
  1. Institute for Nuclear Physics, Darmstadt University of Technology, Schlossgartenstr. 9, 64289 Darmstadt (Germany)
  2. Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of Heidelberg, Philosophenweg 16, 69120 Heidelberg (Germany)

We investigate lattice simulations of scalar and non-Abelian gauge fields in Minkowski space-time. For SU(2) gauge-theory expectation values of link variables in 3+1 dimensions are constructed by a stochastic process in an additional (5th) 'Langevin-time'. A sufficiently small Langevin step size and the use of a tilted real-time contour leads to converging results in general. All fixed point solutions are shown to fulfil the infinite hierarchy of Dyson-Schwinger identities, however, they are not unique without further constraints. For the non-Abelian gauge theory the thermal equilibrium fixed point is only approached at intermediate Langevin-times. It becomes more stable if the complex time path is deformed towards Euclidean space-time. We analyze this behavior further using the real-time evolution of a quantum anharmonic oscillator, which is alternatively solved by diagonalizing its Hamiltonian. Without further optimization stochastic quantization can give accurate descriptions if the real-time extent of the lattice is small on the scale of the inverse temperature.

OSTI ID:
21011100
Journal Information:
Physical Review. D, Particles Fields, Vol. 75, Issue 4; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevD.75.045007; (c) 2007 The American Physical Society; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0556-2821
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English