Computing K and D meson masses with N f = 2 + 1 + 1 twisted mass lattice QCD

We discuss the computation of the mass of the K and D mesons within the framework of N f = 2 + 1 + 1 twisted mass lattice QCD from a technical point of view. These quantities are essential, already at the level of generating gauge configurations, being obvious candidates to tune the strange and charm quark masses to their physical values. In particular, we address the problems related to the twisted mass flavor and parity symmetry breaking, which arise when considering a non-degenerate ( c , s ) doublet. We propose and verify the consistency of three methods to extract the K and D meson masses in this framework.