2017/01/31 by Richard Lau, M. Teper, Michael Teper
Physics and Astronomy · #Black Holes and Theoretical Physics #Gauge theory #Glueball #Lattice gauge theory #Meson #Particle physics #Particle physics theoretical and experimental studies #Physics #Quantum Chromodynamics and Particle Interactions #Quantum mechanics #Spectral line #String (physics) #Theoretical physics #hep-lat #hep-th
paper · pdf · doi:10.1007/jhep10(2017)022
99 pages, 32 figures, new SO6 calculations, others revised; more on confinement; mass estimates graded for reliability
arxiv created 2017/07/28 · openalex publication_date 2017/10/01 · arxiv updated 2017/10/25 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
We calculate the spectrum of light glueballs and the string tension in a number of SO(N) lattice gauge theories in 2+1 dimensions, with N in the range 3 ≤ N ≤ 16. After extrapolating to the continuum limit and then to N = ∞ we compare to the spectrum and string tension of the SU(N → ∞) gauge theory and find that the most reliably and precisely calculated physical quantities are consistent in that limit. We also compare the glueball spectra of those pairs of SO(N) and SU(N′) theories that possess the same Lie algebra, i.e. SO(3) and SU(2), SO(4) and SU(2)×SU(2), SO(6) and SU(4), and find that for the very lightest glueballs the spectra are consistent within each such pair, as are the string tensions and the couplings. Where there are apparent discrepancies they are typically for heavier glueballs, where the systematic errors are much harder to control. We calculate the SO(N) string tensions with a particular focus on the confining properties of SO(2N + 1) theories which, unlike SO(2N) theories, possess a trivial centre. We find that for both the light glueballs and for the string tension SO(2N) and SO(2N + 1) gauge theories appear to form a single smooth sequence.