No Arabic abstract
Lattice QCD is an important tool for theoretical input for flavor physics. There have been four reviews by the Flavour Lattice Averaging Group (FLAG). This talk will review the current status of the magnitude of eight of the nine CKM matrix elements, borrowing heavily from the most recent FLAG review (co-authored by the speaker). Future prospects for improving the determination of the CKM matrix will be discussed.
We review many lattice QCD calculations that impact the precise determination of the CKM matrix. We focus on decay constants and semileptonic form factors of both light ($pi$ and K) and heavy-light ($D_{(s)}$ and $B_{(s)}$) mesons. Implication of $Lambda_b$ form factors will be shown. When combined with experimental results for branching fractions and differential decay rates, the above calculations strongly constrain the first two rows of the CKM matrix. We discuss a long standing difference between $|V_{ub}|$ and $|V_{cb}|$ as determined from exclusive or inclusive decays.
The CKM matrix, V, relates the quark mass and flavor bases. In the standard model, V is unitary 3X3, and specified by four arbitrary parameters, including a phase allowing for $CP$ violation. We review the experimental determination of V, including the four parameters in the standard model context. This is an active field; the precision of experimental measurements and theoretical inputs continues to improve. The consistency of the determination with the standard model unitarity is investigated. While there remain some issues the overall agreement with standard model unitarity is good.
Matrix elements of six-quark operators are needed to extract new physics constraints from experimental searches for neutron-antineutron oscillations. This work presents in detail the first lattice quantum chromodynamics calculations of the necessary neutron-antineutron transition matrix elements including calculation methods and discussions of systematic uncertainties. Implications of isospin and chiral symmetry on the matrix elements, power counting in the isospin limit, and renormalization of a chiral basis of six-quark operators are discussed. Calculations are performed with a chiral-symmetric discretization of the quark action and physical light quark masses in order to avoid the need for chiral extrapolation. Non-perturbative renormalization is performed, including a study of lattice cutoff effects. Excited-state effects are studied using two nucleon operators and multiple values of source-sink separation. Results for the dominant matrix elements are found to be significantly larger compared to previous results from the MIT bag model. Future calculations are needed to fully account for systematic uncertainties associated with discretization and finite-volume effects but are not expected to significantly affect this conclusion.
The nucleon axial coupling, $g_A$, is a fundamental property of protons and neutrons, dictating the strength with which the weak axial current of the Standard Model couples to nucleons, and hence, the lifetime of a free neutron. The prominence of $g_A$ in nuclear physics has made it a benchmark quantity with which to calibrate lattice QCD calculations of nucleon structure and more complex calculations of electroweak matrix elements in one and few nucleon systems. There were a number of significant challenges in determining $g_A$, notably the notorious exponentially-bad signal-to-noise problem and the requirement for hundreds of thousands of stochastic samples, that rendered this goal more difficult to obtain than originally thought. I will describe the use of an unconventional computation method, coupled with ludicrously fast GPU code, access to publicly available lattice QCD configurations from MILC and access to leadership computing that have allowed these challenges to be overcome resulting in a determination of $g_A$ with 1% precision and all sources of systematic uncertainty controlled. I will discuss the implications of these results for the convergence of $SU(2)$ Chiral Perturbation theory for nucleons, as well as prospects for further improvements to $g_A$ (sub-percent precision, for which we have preliminary results) which is part of a more comprehensive application of lattice QCD to nuclear physics. This is particularly exciting in light of the new CORAL supercomputers coming online, Sierra and Summit, for which our lattice QCD codes achieve a machine-to-machine speed up over Titan of an order of magnitude.
Lattice QCD calculations of hadron structure are a valuable complement to many experimental programs as well as an indispensable tool to understand the dynamics of QCD. I present a focused review of a few representative topics chosen to illustrate both the challenges and advances of our community: the momentum fraction, axial charge and charge radius of the nucleon. I will discuss the current status of these calculations and speculate on the prospects for accurate calculations of hadron structure from lattice QCD.