We report on a non-perturbative computation of the renormalization factor Z_A of the axial vector current in three-flavour O(a) improved lattice QCD with Wilson quarks and tree-level Symanzik improved gauge action and also recall our recent determina
tion of the improvement coefficient c_A. Our normalization and improvement conditions are formulated at constant physics in a Schrodinger functional setup. The normalization condition exploits the full, massive axial Ward identity to reduce finite quark mass effects in the evaluation of Z_A and correlators with boundary wave functions to suppress excited state contributions in the pseudoscalar channel.
The coefficient c_A required for O(a) improvement of the axial current in lattice QCD with N_f=3 flavors of Wilson fermions and the tree-level Symanzik-improved gauge action is determined non-perturbatively. The standard improvement condition using S
chroedinger functional boundary conditions is employed at constant physics for a range of couplings relevant for simulations at lattice spacings of ~ 0.09 fm and below. We define the improvement condition projected onto the zero topological charge sector of the theory, in order to avoid the problem of possibly insufficient tunneling between topological sectors in our simulations at the smallest bare coupling. An interpolation formula for c_A(g_0^2) is provided together with our final results.
In view of the recent excitement about a tension between determinations of f_Ds from experiment and from simulations of lattice QCD with dynamical quarks, we try to clear up the picture of lattice determinations in the continuum limit of the quenched
approximation. For O(a) improved Wilson quarks we see linear scaling in the squared lattice spacing a^2 only for a<~0.08fm. For coarser lattices we observe significant contaminations from higher order cutoff effects. As an aside we also study the scaling of the charm quark mass and the ratio of the vector to the pseudo-scalar decay constant and the spin-splitting.
We present a preliminary analysis of the charm quark mass and the mass and decay constant $f_{D_s}$ of the $D_s$ meson obtained from dynamical simulations of $N_f = 2$ Wilson QCD on the large and fine lattices simulated by the CLS effort.
