Staggered fermions at β = 5.7: Smeared operators on large lattices

We study staggered quenched QCD at a moderate value of β on large lattices. We introduce smeared Green functions for staggered fermions, and we analyze their effectiveness. We estimate the lattice spacing, and establish that staggered fermions undergo large systematic errors at low β in the estimate of the lattice spacing from the ρ{variant}-mass. The scale ratio of the baryonic and the mesonic sector (mp/mp) is, on the contrary, consistent with the one estimated by using Wilson fermions. Owing to the use of smeared operators on large lattices (up to 243 × 32), we are able to give reliable results for the baryonic states. © 1990.