The Nobel Prize was recently awarded to David Gross, David Politzer and Frank Wilczek for the discovery that QCD is asymptotically free. This property enables us to use perturbation theory to study the theory in the high energy regime. However, many of the interesting properties of quarks and QCD, like confinement and flavor mixing, require a nonperturbative understanding of QCD. In 1975, Ken Wilson established a nonperturbative approach to QCD using a space-time grid or lattice. Recent advances in the formulation of lattice QCD and in computer power have allowed significant advances. Some recent calculations and their implications will be described. We will also consider what further progress can be expected in the next few years.

ANL Physics Division Seminar Schedule