Testing pseudofermion lattice QCD with small quark masses and large volumes

Abstract

We report on extensive tests done on the pseudofermion algorithm in a simulation of lattice QCD with dynamical quarks. These tests are carried out in a more realistic context than many of the studies previously attempted as a lattice volume of 103 × 32 sites and quark mass of about 50 to 200 MeV are used throughout the calculation. Wilson loop factors of various sizes, as well as chiral condensates and pion propagators, are shown to change by less than 5% when the pseudofermion algorithm is tuned to simulate QCD more accurately.