Multi-hadron states in Lattice QCD spectroscopy

The ability to reliably measure the energy of an excited hadron in Lattice QCD simulations hinges on the accurate determination of all lower-lying energies in the same symmetry channel. These include not only single-particle energies, but also the energies of multi-hadron states. This talk deals with the determination of multi-hadron energies in Lattice QCD. The group-theoretical derivation of lattice interpolating operators that couple optimally to multi-hadron states is described. We briefly discuss recent algorithmic developments which allow for the efficient implementation of these operators in software, and present numerical results from the Hadron Spectrum Collaboration.