We construct a 4-d lattice Dirac operator D using a systematical expansion in terms of simple operators on the lattice. The GinspargWilson equation turns into a system of coupled equations for the expansion coefficients of D. We solve these equations for a finite parametrization of D and find an approximate solution of the Ginsparg-Wilson equation. We analyze the spectral properties of our D for various ensembles of quenched SU(3) configurations. Improving the gauge field action considerably improves the spectral properties of our D.

We construct a number of lattice fermions, which fulfill the Ginsparg-Wilson relation either exactly or approximately, and test them in the framework of the 2-flavor Schwinger model. We start from explicit approximations within a short range, and study this formulation, as well as its correction to an exact Ginsparg-Wilson fermion by the "overlap formula". Then we suggest a new method to realize this correction perturbatively, without using the tedious square root operator. In this way we combine many favorable properties: good chiral behavior, small mass renormalization, excellent scaling and rotational invariance, as well as a relatively modest computational effort, which makes such formulations most attractive for QCD.

We present a detailed study of the interplay between chiral symmetry and spectral properties of the Dirac operator in lattice gauge theories. We consider, in the framework of the Schwinger model, the fixed point action and a fermion action recently proposed by Neuberger. Both actions show the remnant of chiral symmetry on the lattice as formulated in the Ginsparg-Wilson relation. We check this issue for practical implementations, also evaluating the fermion condensate in a finite volume by a subtraction procedure. Moreover, we investigate the distribution of the eigenvalues of a properly defined anti-hermitian lattice Dirac operator, studying the statistical properties at the low lying edge of the spectrum. The comparison with the predictions of chiral Random Matrix Theory enables us to obtain an estimate of the infinite volume fermion condensate.

We present numerical results for the 2-flavour Schwinger model with dynamical chiral lattice fermions. We insert an approximately chiral hypercube Dirac operator into the overlap formula to construct the overlap hypercube operator. This is an exact solution to the Ginsparg-Wilson relation, with an excellent level of locality and scaling. Due to its similarity with the hypercubic kernel, a low polynomial in this kernel provides a numerically efficient Hybrid Monte Carlo force. We measure the microscopic Dirac spectrum and discuss the corresponding scale-invariant parameter, which takes a surprising form. This is an interesting case, since Random Matrix Theory is unexplored for this setting, where the chiral condensate Σ vanishes in the chiral limit. We also measure Σ and the "pion" mass, in distinct topological sectors. In this context we discuss and probe the topological summation of observables by various methods, as well as the evaluation of the topological susceptibility. The feasibility of this summation is essential for the prospects of dynamical overlap fermions in QCD.1

We study the 2-flavor lattice Schwinger model with Wilson fermions in the chiral limit. The quark mass is determined using the PCAC definition. We numerically compute the masses of the iso-triplet (π) and iso-singlet particles (η) for different quark masses and compare our results with analytical formulas.