Benedictine University - summer1, Lisle, IL 60532 Benedictine University2, physics, Lisle, IL 60532
INVESTIGATION OF QUARKONIUM MASS THROUGH QCD SIMULATION S. S. Subramanian1, E.D. Freeland*2, Naperville Central High School, Naperville, IL, 60540-62981, Benedictine University, Department of Physics, Lisle, IL, 605322, efreeland@ben.edu
One of the principal objectives of modern particle physics is discovering new particles and new interactions among particles. Currently, the Standard Model is the best description that we have of the fundamental building blocks of the universe and their interactions. This research is studying quantum chromodynamics (QCD), the theory of the strong interaction among fundamental particles called quarks. The aim of this investigation is to use theoretical and numerical tools to determine the masses of two-quark particles called quarkonium. The investigation utilizes the technique of Lattice QCD, which combines high-performance computing with quantum field theory to perform calculations. Since the correlation function for the particles in question consists of a series of decaying exponentials, the function can be approximated with f(t) = Ae-Et, where A is some constant, E represents the ground-state energy level, which is the mass of the particular particle, and t represents time. Using correlation-function data from the Fermilab-MILC collaboration, the mass of the particles can be determined. This presentation describes the development of analysis code for the determination of quarkonium masses from lattice QCD simulations. We present preliminary results used to test the analysis code and discuss the compaison to experiment.
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