Massive Photons: An Infrared Regularization Scheme for Lattice QCD+QED

Area of Science:

• Computational physics
• Quantum chromodynamics
• Hadron spectroscopy

Background:

• Standard lattice quantum chromodynamics (LQCD) methods incur significant computational costs due to power-law finite-volume corrections from electromagnetic interactions.
• Extrapolation to infinite volume to remove these corrections requires extensive calculations across multiple lattice spacings.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a more cost-effective method for incorporating electromagnetic interactions in LQCD.
• To accurately estimate electromagnetic modifications to the hadron spectrum.

Main Methods:

• Introduction of a photon mass to regulate infrared divergences in LQCD calculations.
• Utilization of effective field theory to remove unphysical effects of the photon mass.
• Comparison of computational cost and precision with standard methods.

Main Results:

• Electromagnetic modifications to the hadron spectrum are estimated with precision comparable to conventional methods.
• The proposed method offers a significant cost advantage, particularly in ensemble generation.
• The method is reliable for lattice calculations with multiple charged hadrons.

Conclusions:

• The photon mass approach provides a computationally efficient alternative for LQCD calculations involving electromagnetic interactions.
• This method is beneficial for studying systems with charged hadrons and long-range Coulomb interactions.
• The technique offers a promising avenue for advancing quantum many-body computations.