The Abelianicity of cooled SU(2) lattice configurations

Oct, 1996
10 pages
Published in:
  • Phys.Rev.D 55 (1997) 4484-4487
e-Print:
Report number:
  • LBL-39472,
  • LBNL-39472

Citations per year

20042005200620072008201
Abstract:
We introduce a gauge-invariant measure of the local "abelianicity" of any given lattice configuration in non-abelian lattice gauge theory; it is essentially a comparison of the magnitude of field strength commutators to the magnitude of the field strength itself. This measure, in conjunction with the cooling technique, is used to probe the SU(2) lattice vacuum for a possible large-scale abelian background, underlying the local short-range field fluctuations. We do, in fact, find a substantial rise in abelianicity over 10 cooling steps or so, after which the abelianicity tends to drop again.
  • 12.38.Aw
  • 11.15.Ha
  • gauge field theory: SU(2)
  • lattice field theory
  • invariance: gauge
  • charge: topological
  • vacuum state: fluctuation
  • numerical calculations: Monte Carlo