Multigrid algorithm for staggered lattice fermions

Abstract

Critical slowing down in Krylov methods for the Dirac operator presents a major obstacle to further advances in lattice field theory as it approaches the continuum solution. Here we formulate a multigrid algorithm for the Kogut-Susskind (or staggered) fermion discretization which has proven difficult relative to Wilson multigrid due to its first-order anti-Hermitian structure. The solution is to introduce a novel spectral transformation by the Kähler-Dirac spin structure prior to the Galerkin projection. We present numerical results for the two-dimensional, two-flavor Schwinger model; however, the general formalism is agnostic to dimension and is directly applicable to four-dimensional lattice QCD.