Phenomenology from the Lattice

Abstract

In recent years the precision of lattice calculations has improved hugely, and the results are making a very significant impact in particle physics phenomenology. Indeed there is no alternative general method which can be used in the evaluation of nonperturbative strong interaction effects for a wide variety of physical processes. In this talk I discuss a selection of topics in flavour physics, including \textit{mature} quantities for which lattice calculations have been performed for a long time (e.g. the determination of the $V_{us}$ CKM matrix element and $B_K$), quantities which we are now learning to study (e.g. $K\to\pi\pi$ decays amplitudes and the spectrum and mixing of $\eta-\eta^\prime$ mesons) and important phenomenological quantities for which a large amount of experimental data is available but which we do not yet understand how to approach in lattice simulations (e.g. nonleptonic B-decays). The improvement in precision and the extension of the range of processes which can be studied using lattice QCD has to be continued vigorously if precision flavour physics is to play a complementary role to large $p_\perp$ discovery experiments at the LHC in unravelling the next level of fundamental physics.