Math and Physics Researchers Collaborate on Improved Algorithms for Quantum Chromodynamics

October 15, 2007

Baylor University researchers have come up with algorithms that quickly solve the linear equations of lattice quantum chromodynamics (lattice QCD), a model of quarks and gluons formulated on a finite space-time lattice of points.

Until this advance, the process of solving the millions of linear equations of lattice QCD was hampered by small eigenvalues in the matrix. Eigenvalues, which help to determine energy levels of atoms, also affect how fast solution methods for linear equations converge.

The algorithms developed by mathematician Ron Morgan and physicist Walter Wilcox quicken the process by, in effect, "throwing out" the small eigenvalues.

"I knew these algorithms had potential, but it was very nice to find that they could work well for an important application such as lattice QCD," Morgan said. "It seems the bigger the problem, the better it works."

"These methods are the culmination of a remarkable collaboration between mathematics and physics researchers, and we are very pleased with the result," he added. "This will allow researchers in my field to do more, at a faster pace."

Morgan and Wilcox reported on their research at Lattice 2007, the XXV International Symposium on Lattice Field Theory, which the University of Regensburg hosted this past summer.

Source: Baylor University, Oct. 1, 2007.