Topology density correlator on dynamical domain-wall ensembles with nearly frozen topological charge

Global topological charge decorrelates very slowly or even freezes in fine lattice simulations. On the other hand, its local fluctuations are expected to survive and lead to the correct physical results as long as the volume is large enough. We investigate this issue on recently generated configurations including dynamical domain-wall fermions at lattice spacings a = 0.08 fm and finer. We utilize the Yang-Mills gradient flow to define the topological charge density operator and calculate its long-distance correlation, through which we propose a new method for extracting the topological susceptibility in a sub-volume. This method takes care of the finite volume correction, which reduces the bias caused by the global topological charge. Our lattice data clearly show a shorter auto-correlation time than that of the naive definition using the whole lattice, and are less sensitive to the global topological history. Numerical results show a clear sea-quark mass dependence, which agrees well with the prediction of chiral perturbation theory.