Quantum Operator Design for Lattice Baryon Spectroscopy

Book excerpt: A previously-proposed method of constructing spatially-extended gauge-invariant three-quark operators for use in Monte Carlo lattice QCD calculations is tested, and a methodology for using these operators to extract the energies of a large number of baryon states is developed. This work is part of a long-term project undertaken by the Lattice Hadron Physics Collaboration to carry out a first-principles calculation of the low-lying spectrum of QCD. The operators are assemblages of smeared and gauge-covariantly-displaced quark fields having a definite flavor structure. The importance of using smeared fields is dramatically demonstrated. It is found that quark field smearing greatly reduces the couplings to the unwanted high-lying short-wavelength modes, while gauge field smearing drastically reduces the statistical noise in the extended operators.