Calculation of the Lepage-Mackenzie scale for the lattice axial-vector andvector currents - art. no. 074506

We calculate the perturbative scales (q*) for the axial-vector and vector c urrents for the Wilson action, with and without tadpole improvement, using the formalism of Lepage and Mackenzie. The scale for the pseudoscalar densi ty (times the mass) is computed as well. Contrary to naive expectation, tad pole improvement reduces q* by only a small amount for the operators we con sider. We also discuss the use of a nonperturbative coupling to calculate t he perturbative scale. [S0556-2821(99)01107-8].