Non-abelian lattice gauge theory with a topological action

Abstract

SU(2) gauge theory is investigated with a lattice action which is insensitive to small perturbations of the lattice gauge fields. Bare perturbation theory can not be defined for such actions at all. We compare non-perturbative continuum results with that obtained by the usual Wilson plaquette action. The compared observables span a wide range of interesting phenomena: zero temperature large volume behavior (topological susceptibility), finite temperature phase transition (critical exponents and critical temperature) and also the small volume regime (discrete beta-function or step-scaling function). In the continuum limit perfect agreement is found indicating that universality holds for these topological lattice actions as well.