't Hooft loop and the phases of SU(2) LGT

Abstract

We analyze the vacuum structure of SU(2) lattice gauge theories in D=2,3,4, concentrating on the stability of 't Hooft loops. High precision calculations have been performed in D=3; similar results hold also for D=4 and D=2. We discuss the impact of our findings on the continuum limit of Yang-Mills theories.

Comments: 7 pages, 3 figures. Presented at the 31st International Symposium on Lattice Field Theory (Lattice 2013), 29 July - 3 August 2013, Mainz, Germany