Lattice QCD thermodynamics in the presence of the charm quark
We present an update on the 2 + 1 flavor QCD equation of state of the Wuppertal–Budapest Collaboration, extending our previous studies to finer lattice spacings and providing a continuum extrapolation of the trace anomaly. A Symanzik improved gauge and a stout-link improved staggered fermion action is utilized. We also present preliminary results for the fully dynamical charmed equation of state.

title: The Chiral Phase Transition from Lattice QCD with Physical Pion Masses and Domain Wall Fermions
abstract: The HotQCD collaboration has extended its study of the finite temperature transition in 2+1 flavor QCD using domain wall fermions (DWF) to the physical point. With chiral fermions and truly physical pion masses, these calculations are arguably the most realistic of their kind to date, and not possible without a combination of algorithmic advances (chiefly the dislocation suppressing determinant ratio, DSDR), highly optimized BAGEL/CPS software, and access to the LLNL/IBM 20 Petaflops Sequoia Blue Gene/Q. All results are for a fixed temporal lattice size of 8, yet discretization effects, at least for the spectrum at zero temperature, are expected to be at the 5% level. Presented here are early results – in particular, the critical temperature and pion mass dependence of the light quark chiral susceptibility.

title: The sextet gauge model, light Higgs, and the dilaton
abstract: The frequently discussed strongly interacting gauge theory with a fermion flavor doublet in the two-index symmetric (sextet) representation of the SU(3) color gauge group is investigated \cite{Fodor:2012ty}. The chiral condensate and the mass spectrum are consistent with chiral symmetry breaking at vanishing fermion mass. In contrast, sextet fermion mass deformations of spectral properties are not consistent with leading conformal scaling behavior near the critical surface of a conformal theory. A recent paper \cite{DeGrand:2012yq} which could not resolve the conformal fixed point of the gauge coupling from the slowly walking scenario of a very small nearly vanishing \beta -function is not in conflict with chiral symmetry breaking reported here. A light Higgs impostor could emerge as the dilaton from spontaneous symmetry breaking of scale invariance or, without the dilaton mechanism, as a composite state.

title: Conformal finite size scaling of twelve fermion flavors
abstract: Extended simulation results and their analysis are reported in a strongly coupled gauge theory with twelve fermion flavors in the fundamental SU(3) color representation. The conformality of the model is probed using mass deformed conformal finite size scaling (FSS) theory driven by the fermion mass anomalous dimension. Two independent conformal FSS fitting procedures are used in the analysis. The first one deploys physics motivated scaling functions, complemented by a second fitting procedure with spline based general B-forms for the scaling functions. The results at fixed gauge coupling show unresolved problems with the conformal hypothesis.

title: Twelve massless flavors and three colors below the conformal window
abstract: We report new results for a frequently discussed gauge theory with twelve fermion flavors in the fundamental representation of the SU(3) color gauge group. The model, controversial with respect to its conformality, is important in non-perturbative studies searching for a viable composite Higgs mechanism Beyond the Standard Model (BSM). To resolve the controversy, we subject the model to opposite hypotheses inside and outside of the conformal window. In the first hypothesis we test chiral symmetry breaking ( SB) with its Goldstone spectrum, F , the SB condensate, and several composite hadron states as the fermion mass is varied in a limited range with our best e ort to control finite volume e ects and extrapolation to the massless chiral limit. Supporting results for SB from the running coupling based on the force between static sources and some preliminary evidence for the finite temperature transition are also presented. In the second test for the alternate hypothesis we probe conformal behavior driven by a single anomalous mass dimension under the assumption of unbroken chiral symmetry. Our results show a very low level of confidence in the conformal scenario. Staggered lattice fermions with stout-suppressed taste breaking are used throughout the simulations.

title: NEARLY CONFORMAL GAUGE THEORIES ON THE LATTICE
abstract: We present selected new results on chiral symmetry breaking in nearly conformal gauge theories with fermions in the fundamental representation of the SU(3) color gauge group. We found chiral symmetry breaking (χSB) for all flavors between Nf = 4 and Nf = 12 with most of the results discussed here for Nf = 4, 8, 12 as we approach the conformal window. To identify χSB we apply several methods which include, within the framework of chiral perturbation theory, the analysis of the Goldstone spectrum in the p-regime and the spectrum of the fermion Dirac operator with eigenvalue distributions of random matrix theory in the ϵ-regime. Chiral condensate enhancement is observed with increasing Nf when the electroweak symmetry breaking scale F is held fixed in technicolor language. Important finite-volume consistency checks from the theoretical understanding of the SU(Nf) rotator spectrum of the δ-regime are discussed. We also consider these gauge theories at Nf = 16 inside the conformal window. Our work on the running coupling is presented

title: Production of high-quality electron bunches by dephasing and beam loading in channeled and unchanneled laser plasma accelerators
abstract: High-quality electron beams, with a few 109 electrons within a few percent of the same energy above 80 MeV, were produced in a laser wakefield accelerator by matching the acceleration length to the length over which electrons were accelerated and outran (dephased from) the wake. A plasma channel guided the drive laser over long distances, resulting in production of the high-energy, high-quality beams. Unchanneled experiments varying the length of the target plasma indicated that the high-quality bunches are produced near the dephasing length and demonstrated that channel guiding was more stable and efficient than relativistic self-guiding. Consistent with these data, particle-in-cell simulations indicate production of high-quality electron beams when trapping of an initial bunch of electrons suppresses further injection by loading the wake. The injected electron bunch is then compressed in energy by dephasing, when the front of the bunch begins to decelerate while the tail is still accelerated.

title: Optimization of THz Radiation Generation from a Laser Wakefield Accelerator
abstract: Ultrashort terahertz pulses with energies in the μJ range can be generated with laser wakefield accelerators (LWFA), which are novel, compact accelerators that produce ultrashort electron bunches with energies up to 1 GeV  and energy spreads of a few‐percent. Laser pulses interacting with a plasma create accelerated electrons which upon exiting the plasma emit terahertz pulses via transition radiation. Because these electron bunches are ultrashort (<50 fs), they can radiate coherently (coherent transition radiation—CTR) in a wide bandwidth (∼1–10 THz) yielding high intensity terahertz pulses . In addition to providing a non‐invasive bunch‐length diagnostic [3] and thus feedback for the LWFA, these high peak power THz pulses are suitable for high field (MV/cm) pump‐probe experiments. Here we present energy‐based measurements using a Golay cell and an electro‐optic technique which were used to characterize these THz pulses.

title: Efficient electron injection into plasma waves using higher-order laser modes
abstract: Using higher-order transverse laser modes as drivers for plasma wave excitation, and, in particular, using ring laser beams with maximum intensities off-axis, results in reversal of the focusing and defocusing phase regions in a laser wakefield accelerator. This results in improved performance of self-trapping and laser injection schemes. Specifically, the trapping threshold required for optical injection is decreased and the maximum energy gain of the trapped electrons is increased. This method could also be of interest for the generation of ring electron beams or for beam conditioning.

title: Undulator radiation from laser-plasma-accelerated electron beams
abstract: Recent experiments coupled electron beams from the LOASIS TREX laser plasma accelerator (LPA) [1, 2, 3] to the Tapered Hybrid Undulator (THUNDER). Using the 1.5m, 66 period undulator, followed by an XUV spectrometer, spontaneous radiation was observed at photon energies extending to 100 eV. Previous experiments have reported visible  and soft-x-ray  radiation. The purpose of our experiments is to do highly precise, single shot diagnostics of the energy spread and emittance for each electron beam. We present recent results including measurements of electron beam transport through the undulator with and without the use of permanent magnetic quadrapoles, and measurements of XUV spectra up to 100 eV from LPA produced e-beams.

title: Modeling a 10 GeV Laser-Plasma Accelerator with INF&RNO
abstract: The numerical modeling code INF&RNO (INtegrated Fluid & paRticle simulatioN cOde, pronounced “inferno”) is an efficient 2D cylindrical code to model the interaction of a short laser pulse with an underdense plasma. The code is based on an envelope model for the laser while either a particle-in-cell (PIC) or a fluid description can be used for the plasma. The effect of the laser pulse on the plasma is modeled with the time-averaged ponderomotive force. These and other features allow for a significant speedup compared to standard full PIC simulations while still retaining physical fidelity. A boosted Lorentz frame (BLF) modeling capability has been introduced within the fluid framework enhancing the performance of the code. An example of a 10 GeV laser-plasma accelerator modeled using INF&RNO in the BLF is presented.