General algorithm for improved lattice actions on parallel computing architectures

Quantum field theories underlie all of our understanding of the fundamental forces of nature. There are relatively few first-principles approaches to the study of quantum field theories (such as quantum chromodynamics [QCD] r elevant to the strong interaction) apart from the perturbative (i.e., weak- coupling) regime. Currently, the most commonly used method is the Monte Car lo method on a hypercubic space-time lattice. These methods consume enormou s computing power for large lattices, and it is essential that increasingly efficient algorithms be developed to perform standard tasks in these latti ce calculations. Here we present a general algorithm for QCD that allows on e to put any planar improved gluonic lattice action onto a parallel computi ng architecture. High performance masks for specific actions (including non planar actions) are also presented. These algorithms have been successfully employed by us in a variety of lattice QCD calculations using improved lat tice actions on a 128 node Thinking Machines CM-5. (C) 2001 Academic Press.