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In physics, lattice field theory is the study of lattice models of quantum field theory, that is, of field theory
on a spacetime that has been discretized onto a lattice. Although most lattice field theories are not exactly
solvable, they are of tremendous appeal because they can be studied by simulation on a computer. One
hopes that, by performing simulations on larger and larger lattices, while making the lattice spacing smaller
and smaller, one will be able to recover the behaviour of the continuum theory.
Just as in all lattice models, numerical simulation gives access to field configurations that are not accessible
to perturbation theory, such as solitons. Likewise, non-trivial vacuum states can be discovered and probed.
The method is particularly appealing for the quantization of a gauge theory. Most quantization methods keep
Poincar invariance manifest but sacrifice manifest gauge symmetry by requiring gauge fixing. Only after
renormalization can gauge invariance be recovered. Lattice field theory differs from these in that it keeps
manifest gauge invariance, but sacrifices manifest Poincar invariance recovering it only after
renormalization. The articles on lattice gauge theory and lattice QCD explore these issues in greater detail.
See also
Lattice QCD
I. Montvay and G. Mnster, Quantum Fields on a Lattice, Cambridge University Press 1997.
Categories:
Lattice models
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