Nonperturbative beta function of eight-flavor SU(3) gauge theory

We present a new lattice study of the discrete beta function for SU(3) gauge theory with Nf=8 massless flavors of fermions in the fundamental representation. Using the gradient flow running coupling, and comparing two different nHYP-smeared staggered lattice actions, we calculate the 8-flavor step-scaling function at significantly stronger couplings than were previously accessible. Our continuum-extrapolated results for the discrete beta function show no sign of an IR fixed point up to couplings of g^2~14. At the same time, we find that the gradient flow coupling runs much more slowly than predicted by two-loop perturbation theory, reinforcing previous indications that the 8-flavor system possesses nontrivial strongly coupled IR dynamics with relevance to BSM phenomenology.