We report our recent studies on the finite density QCD obtained from lattice QCD simulation with clover-improved Wilson fermions of two flavor and RG-improved gauge action. We approach the subject from two paths, i.e., the imaginary and real chemical potentials.
The QCD equation of state at finite baryon density is studied in the framework of a Cluster Expansion Model (CEM), which is based on the fugacity expansion of the net baryon density. The CEM uses the two leading Fourier coefficients, obtained from lattice simulations at imaginary $mu_B$, as the only model input and permits a closed analytic form. Excellent description of the available lattice data at both $mu_B = 0$ and at imaginary $mu_B$ is obtained. We also demonstrate how the Fourier coefficients can be reconstructed from baryon number susceptibilities.
In this article, we review the HAL QCD method to investigate baryon-baryon interactions such as nuclear forces in lattice QCD. We first explain our strategy in detail to investigate baryon-baryon interactions by defining potentials in field theories such as QCD. We introduce the Nambu-Bethe-Salpeter (NBS) wave functions in QCD for two baryons below the inelastic threshold. We then define the potential from NBS wave functions in terms of the derivative expansion, which is shown to reproduce the scattering phase shifts correctly below the inelastic threshold. Using this definition, we formulate a method to extract the potential in lattice QCD. Secondly, we discuss pros and cons of the HAL QCD method, by comparing it with the conventional method, where one directly extracts the scattering phase shifts from the finite volume energies through the Luschers formula. We give several theoretical and numerical evidences that the conventional method combined with the naive plateau fitting for the finite volume energies in the literature so far fails to work on baryon-baryon interactions due to contaminations of elastic excited states. On the other hand, we show that such a serious problem can be avoided in the HAL QCD method by defining the potential in an energy-independent way. We also discuss systematics of the HAL QCD method, in particular errors associated with a truncation of the derivative expansion. Thirdly, we present several results obtained from the HAL QCD method, which include (central) nuclear force, tensor force, spin-orbital force, and three nucleon force. We finally show the latest results calculated at the nearly physical pion mass, $m_pi simeq 146$ MeV, including hyperon forces which lead to form $OmegaOmega$ and $NOmega$ dibaryons.
State-of-the-art lattice QCD studies of hot and dense strongly interacting matter currently rely on extrapolation from zero or imaginary chemical potentials. The ill-posedness of numerical analytic continuation puts severe limitations on the reliability of such methods. Here we use the more direct sign reweighting method to perform lattice QCD simulation of the QCD chiral transition at finite real baryon density on phenomenologically relevant lattices. This method does not require analytic continuation and avoids the overlap problem associated with generic reweighting schemes, so has only statistical but no uncontrolled systematic uncertainties for a fixed lattice setup. This opens up a new window to study hot and dense strongly interacting matter from first principles. We perform simulations up to a baryochemical potential-temperature ratio of $mu_B/T=2.5$ covering most of the RHIC Beam Energy Scan range in the chemical potential. We also clarify the connection of the approach to the more traditional phase reweighting method.
We report the recent progress on the determination of three-nucleon forces (3NF) in lattice QCD. We utilize the Nambu-Bethe-Salpeter (NBS) wave function to define the potential in quantum field theory, and extract two-nucleon forces (2NF) and 3NF on equal footing. The enormous computational cost for calculating multi-baryon correlators on the lattice is drastically reduced by developing a novel contraction algorithm (the unified contraction algorithm). Quantum numbers of the three-nucleon (3N) system are chosen to be (I, J^P)=(1/2,1/2^+) (the triton channel), and we extract 3NF in which three nucleons are aligned linearly with an equal spacing. Lattice QCD simulations are performed using N_f=2 dynamical clover fermion configurations at the lattice spacing of a = 0.156 fm on a 16^3 x 32 lattice with a large quark mass corresponding to m(pi)= 1.13 GeV. Repulsive 3NF is found at short distance.
A brief overview of the QCD phase diagram at nonzero temperature and density is provided. It is explained why standard lattice QCD techniques are not immediately applicable for its determination, due to the sign problem. We then discuss a selection of recent lattice approaches that attempt to evade the sign problem and classify them according to the underlying principle: constrained simulations (density of states, histograms), holomorphicity (complex Langevin, Lefschetz thimbles), partial summations (clusters, subsets, bags) and change in integration order (strong coupling, dual formulations).