Testing improved actions for dynamical Kogut-Susskind quarks

Abstract

We extend tests of "Naik" and "fat link" improvements of the Kogut-Susskind quark action to full QCD simulations, and verify that the improvements previously demonstrated in the quenched approximation apply also to dynamical quark simulations. We extend the study of flavor symmetry improvement to the complete set of pions, and find that the nonlocal pions are significantly heavier than the local non-Goldstone pion. These results can be used to estimate the lattice spacing necessary for realistic simulations with this action.