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Title: Adjoint Wilson line in SU(2) lattice gauge theory

Journal Article · · Physical Review, D (Particles Fields); (United States)
 [1];  [2]
  1. Department of Physics and Institute of Theoretical Dynamics, University of California, Davis, California 95616 (United States)
  2. Supercomputer Computations Research Institute, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida 32306 (United States)

The behavior of the adjoint Wilson line in finite-temperature, SU(2), lattice gauge theory is discussed. The expectation value of the line and the associated excess free energy reveal the response of the finite-temperature gauge field to the presence of an adjoint source. The value of the adjoint line at the critical point of the deconfining phase transition is highlighted. This is not calculable in weak or strong coupling. It receives contributions from all scales and is nonanalytic at the critical point. We determine the general form of the free energy. It includes a linearly divergent term that is perturbative in the bare coupling and a finite, nonperturbative piece. We use a simple flux tube model to estimate the value of the nonperturbative piece. This provides the normalization needed to estimate the behavior of the line as one moves along the critical curve into the weak coupling region.

DOE Contract Number:
FC05-85ER25000
OSTI ID:
5433735
Journal Information:
Physical Review, D (Particles Fields); (United States), Vol. 49:1; ISSN 0556-2821
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English