Chris Allton

Research Interests

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My research interests lie in the area of non-perturbative field theory, in particular, in the application of Lattice Field Theory (LFT) to the strongly-coupled systems such as occur in particle physics. In this approach, continuous space-time is replaced by a discrete lattice of points, and (unlike usual perturbation theory) the theory becomes tractable even when the coupling between the particles is large.

 

LFT is the only method available to study field theory non-perturbatively from first principles (i.e. with no model assumptions). The strong interaction (QCD) which binds quarks inside protons and neutrons is an example of a field theory which has a distinctly non-perturbative structure, and LFT is particularly successful in this area. An important feature of the LFT approach is that it shares many similarities with statistical mechanics, and therefore the study of condensed matter systems.

High-temperature QCD

My research studies QCD at large temperatures using the lattice technique. QCD is particularly interesting as the temperature increases, transitioning from a confining force at low temperatures where quarks are bound within hadrons, to a deconfined one where these hadrons break apart.

 

These studies have physical relevance because they are the conditions of the very early Universe, and they are also reproduced in heavy-ion collision experiments in CERN and elsewhere.

 

Together with collaborators from Swansea University and colleagues in the FASTSUM Collaboration (which involves around 20 researchers from six countries) we have investigated QCD at intermediate and large temperatures, calculating its electrical conductivity, bulk thermal properties, and the spectral behaviour of hadrons particularly heavy mesons.