Fundamental parameters of QCD

Abstract

The theory of strong interactions, QCD, is described in terms of a few parameters, namely the strong coupling constant alpha_s and the quark masses. We show how these parameters can be determined reliably using computer simulations of QCD on a space-time lattice, and by employing a finite-size scaling method, which allows to trace the energy dependence of alpha_s and quark masses over several orders of magnitude. We also discuss methods designed to reduce the effects of finite lattice spacing and address the issue of computer resources required.