Momentum dependence of the topological susceptibility with overlap fermions

Knowledge of the derivative of the topological susceptibility at zero momentum is important for assessing the validity of the Witten-Veneziano formula for the eta mass, and likewise for the resolution of the EMC proton spin problem. We investigate the momentum dependence of the topological susceptibility and its derivative at zero momentum using overlap fermions in quenched lattice QCD simulations. We expose the role of the low-lying Dirac eigenmodes for the topological charge density, and find a negative value for the derivative. While the sign of the derivative is consistent with the QCD sum rule for pure Yang-Mills theory, the absolute value is overestimated if the contribution from higher eigenmodes is ignored.