Nucleon resonances in lattice QCD

Results are presented for N* masses in the 1/2 and 3/2 sectors using an anisotropic lattice QCD action. Clear splittings from the nucleon ground state are observed with smeared operators and 500 configurations. The first excited states in the 1/2+ and 1/2- channels are further isolated, using a correlation matrix and the variational method. The importance of spin projection in the 3/2 sector is demonstrated. The basic pattern of these splittings is consistent with experimental observations at the quark masses explored, although further studies at smaller quark masses are needed to explain the details of the splittings.