We have simulated QCD using 2 þ 1 flavors of domain wall quarks and the Iwasaki gauge action on a ð2:74 fmÞ 3 volume with an inverse lattice scale of a À1 ¼ 1:729ð28Þ GeV. The up and down (light) quarks are degenerate in our calculations and we have used four values for the ratio of light quark masses to the strange (heavy) quark mass in our simulations: 0.217, 0.350, 0.617, and 0.884. We have measured pseudoscalar meson masses and decay constants, the kaon bag parameter B K , and vector meson couplings. We have used SU(2) chiral perturbation theory, which assumes only the up and down quark masses are small, and SU(3) chiral perturbation theory to extrapolate to the physical values for the light quark masses. While next-to-leading order formulas from both approaches fit our data for light quarks, we find the higher-order corrections for SU(3) very large, making such fits unreliable. We also find that SU(3) does not fit our data when the quark masses are near the physical strange quark mass. Thus, we rely on SU(2) chiral perturbation theory for accurate results. We use the masses of the baryon, and the and K mesons to set the lattice scale and determine the quark masses. We then find f ¼ 124:1ð3:6Þ stat  ð6:9Þ syst MeV, f K ¼ 149:6ð3:6Þ stat ð6:3Þ syst MeV, and f K =f ¼ 1:205ð0:018Þ stat ð0:062Þ syst . Using nonperturbative renormalization to relate lattice regularized quark masses to regularization independent momentum scheme masses, and perturbation theory to relate these to MS, we find m MS ud ð2 GeVÞ ¼ 3:72ð0:16Þ stat ð0:33Þ ren ð0:18Þ syst MeV, m MS s ð2 GeVÞ ¼ 107:3ð4:4Þ stat ð9:7Þ ren ð4:9Þ syst MeV, and mud : ms ¼ 1:28:8ð0:4Þ stat ð1:6Þ syst . For the kaon bag parameter, we find B MS K ð2 GeVÞ ¼ 0:524ð0:010Þ stat ð0:013Þ ren  ð0:025Þ syst . Finally, for the ratios of the couplings of the vector mesons to the vector and tensor currents (f V and f T V , respectively) in the MS scheme at 2 GeV we obtain f T =f ¼ 0:687ð27Þ; f T K à =f K à ¼ 0:712ð12Þ, and f T =f ¼ 0:750ð8Þ.

QCD lattice simulations with 2+1 flavours (when two quark flavours are mass degenerate) typically start at rather large up-down and strange quark masses and extrapolate first the strange quark mass and then the up-down quark mass to its respective physical value. Here we discuss an alternative method of tuning the quark masses, in which the singlet quark mass is kept fixed. Using group theory the possible quark mass polynomials for a Taylor expansion about the flavour symmetric line are found, first for the general 1 + 1 + 1 flavour case and then for the 2 + 1 flavour case. This ensures that the kaon always has mass less than the physical kaon mass. This method of tuning quark masses then enables highly constrained polynomial fits to be used in the extrapolation of hadron masses to their physical values. Numerical results for the 2 + 1 flavour case confirm the usefulness of this expansion and an extrapolation to the physical pion mass gives hadron mass values to within a few percent of their experimental values. Singlet quantities remain constant which allows the lattice spacing to be determined from hadron masses (without necessarily being at the physical point). Furthermore an extension of this programme to include partially quenched results is given.

We present physical results obtained from simulations using 2+1 flavors of domain wall quarks and the Iwasaki gauge action at two values of the lattice spacing a, (a −1 = 1.73 (3) GeV and a −1 = 2.28 (3) GeV). On the coarser lattice, with 24 3 × 64 × 16 points (where the 16 corresponds to L s , the extent of the 5 th dimension inherent in the domain wall fermion (DWF) formulation

Abstract. Elastic electromagnetic nucleon form factors have long provided vital information about the structure and composition of these most basic elements of nuclear physics. The form factors are a measurable and physical manifestation of the nature of the nucleons' constituents and the dynamics that binds them together. Accurate form factor data obtained in recent years using modern experimental facilities has spurred a significant reevaluation of the nucleon and pictures of its structure; e.g., the role of quark orbital angular momentum, the scale at which perturbative QCD effects should become evident, the strangeness content, and meson-cloud effects. We provide a succinct survey of the experimental studies and theoretical interpretation of nucleon electromagnetic form factors.

By combining the constraints of charge symmetry with new chiral extrapolation techniques and recent low mass lattice QCD simulations of the individual quark contributions to the magnetic moments of the nucleon octet, we obtain a precise determination of the strange magnetic moment of the proton. The result, namely G s M = −0.046 ± 0.019 µN , is consistent with the latest experimental measurements but an order of magnitude more precise. This poses a tremendous challenge for future experiments.