Excited States of the Nucleon in 2+1 Flavor QCD

Abstract

Recent developments on the determination of the spin-1/2 spectrum of the nucleon in full QCD are presented. Our focus is on the PACS-CS 2+1 flavor configurations made available through the ILDG. Using correlation matrix techniques, in which a wide variety of gauge-invariant Gaussian-smeared fermion-propagator sources and sinks are considered, excited states are determined. We consider several correlation matrices of various sizes, each constructed with a different set of basis interpolators, in order to demonstrate the invariance of the eigenstates on the basis choice. Of particular interest is the approach to the elusive Roper resonance and we report preliminary results in full QCD.