We study the isoscalar and isovector $J=0,1$ mesons with the overlap operator within two flavour lattice QCD. After subtraction of the lowest-lying Dirac eigenmodes from the valence quark propagator all disconnected contributions vanish and all possi
ble point-to-point $J=0$ correlators become identical, signaling a simultaneous restoration of both $SU(2)_L times SU(2)_R$ and $U(1)_A$ symmetries. The ground states of the $pi,sigma,a_0,eta$ mesons do not survive this truncation. All possible $J=1$ states have a very clean exponential decay and become degenerate, demonstrating a $SU(4)$ symmetry of a dynamical QCD-like string.
Using interpolators with different SU(2)_L times SU(2)_R transformation properties we study the chiral symmetry and spin contents of the rho- and rho-mesons in lattice simulations with dynamical quarks. A ratio of couplings of the $qbargamma^i{tau}q$
and $qbarsigma^{0i}{tau}q$ interpolators to a given meson state at different resolution scales tells one about the degree of chiral symmetry breaking in the meson wave function at these scales. Using a Gaussian gauge invariant smearing of the quark fields in the interpolators, we are able to extract the chiral content of mesons up to the infrared resolution of ~1 fm. In the ground state rho meson the chiral symmetry is strongly broken with comparable contributions of both the (0,1) + (1,0) and (1/2,1/2)_b chiral representations with the former being the leading contribution. In contrast, in the rho meson the degree of chiral symmetry breaking is manifestly smaller and the leading representation is (1/2,1/2)_b. Using a unitary transformation from the chiral basis to the {2S +1}L_J basis, we are able to define and measure the angular momentum content of mesons in the rest frame. This definition is different from the traditional one which uses parton distributions in the infinite momentum frame. The rho meson is practically a 3S_1 state with no obvious trace of a spin crisis. The rho meson has a sizeable contribution of the 3D_1 wave, which implies that the rho meson cannot be considered as a pure radial excitation of the rho meson.
In simulations with dynamical quarks it has been established that the ground state rho in the infrared is a strong mixture of the two chiral representations (0,1)+(1,0) and (1/2,1/2)_b. Its angular momentum content is approximately the 3S1 partial wa
ve which is consistent with the quark model. Effective chiral restoration in an excited rho-meson would require that in the infrared this meson couples predominantly to one of the two representations. The variational method allows one to study the mixing of interpolators with different chiral transformation properties in the non-perturbatively determined excited state at different resolution scales. We present results for the first excited state of the rho-meson using simulations with n_f=2 dynamical quarks. We point out, that in the infrared a leading contribution to rho= rho(1450) comes from (1/2,1/2)_b, in contrast to the rho. Its approximate chiral partner would be a h_1(1380) state. The rho wave function contains a significant contribution of the 3D1 wave which is not consistent with the quark model prediction.
