Glueballs and k-strings in SU(N) gauge theories: Calculations with improved operators

Apr, 2004
49 pages
Published in:
  • JHEP 06 (2004) 012
e-Print:

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Abstract:
We test a variety of blocking and smearing algorithms for constructing glueball and string wave-functionals, and find some with much improved overlaps onto the lightest states. We use these algorithms to obtain improved results on the tensions of k-strings in SU(4), SU(6), and SU(8) gauge theories. We emphasise the major systematic errors that still need to be controlled in calculations of heavier k-strings, and perform calculations in SU(4) on an anisotropic lattice in a bid to minimise one of these. All these results point to the k-string tensions lying part-way between the `MQCD' and `Casimir Scaling' conjectures, with the power in 1/N of the leading correction lying in [1,2]. We also obtain some evidence for the presence of quasi-stable strings in calculations that do not use sources, and observe some near-degeneracies between (excited) strings in different representations. We also calculate the lightest glueball masses for N=2, ...,8, and extrapolate to N=infinity, obtaining results compatible with earlier work. We show that the N=infinity factorisation of the Euclidean correlators that are used in such mass calculations does not make the masses any less calculable at large N.
  • gauge field theory: SU(N)
  • lattice field theory
  • glueball: mass
  • string tension
  • correction: finite size
  • operator
  • expansion 1/N
  • numerical methods: Monte Carlo
  • numerical calculations: Monte Carlo