High-Precision Numerical QCD: Simulation Strategies for Highly Nonlinear Field Theories Peter LePage, Cornell

QCD is the fundamental theory of quarks and gluons that underlies our basic theories of ordinary matter. For almost thirty years theorists were stymied by low-energy QCD because it is described by a highly nonlinear field theory. Recent breakthroughs have allowed us for the first time to make accurate (few percent) calculations using Monte Carlo simulation techniques. This talk will provide a nontechnical overview of the developments that made these breakthroughs possible, and the kinds of results that are now being generated in large-scale simulations of QCD.