Lattice QCD results and prospects

In the Standard Model, quarks and gluons are permanently confined by the strong interaction into hadronic bound states. The values of the quark masses and the strengths of the decays of one quark flavour into another cannot be measured directly, but must be deduced from experiments on hadrons. This requires calculations of the strong-interaction effects within the bound states, which are only possible using numerical simulations of lattice QCD. These are computationally intensive and, for the past twenty years, have exploited leading-edge computing technology. In conjunction with experimental data from B Factories, over the next few years, lattice QCD may provide clues to physics beyond the Standard Model. These lectures provide a non-technical introduction to lattice QCD, some of the recent results, QCD computers, and the future prospects.