Exploring two non-perturbative definitions of $c_A$

Abstract

We present two determinations of the coefficient $c_A$ in quenched QCD, needed to build the $O(a)$ improved axial current. The first condition used is the requirement that the PCAC quark mass, as a function of $x_0$, stays flat for a non-trivial spatial phase for the fermions in the Schr\"odinger functional. The second condition is that the PCAC relation for the ground-state and the first excited state at finite L give the same quark mass. Our results confirm previous findings that in the quenched theory the intrinsic $O(a)$ ambiguity of $c_A$ gets relevant around $\beta\simeq6.0$.