Numerical studies on the finite-temperature CP restoration in 4D SU(N) gauge theory at $\theta=\pi$

Abstract

Recent studies on the 't Hooft anomaly matching condition have suggested a nontrivial phase structure in 4D SU($N$) gauge theory at $\theta=\pi$. In the large-$N$ limit, it has been found that CP symmetry at $\theta=\pi$ is broken in the confined phase, while it restores in the deconfined phase, which is indeed one of the possible scenarios. However, at small $N$, one may find other situations that are consistent with the consequence of the anomaly matching condition. Here we investigate this issue for $N=2$ by direct lattice calculations. The crucial point to note is that the CP restoration can be probed by the sudden change of the tail of the topological charge distribution at $\theta=0$, which can be seen by simulating the theory at imaginary $\theta$ without the sign problem. Our results suggest that the CP restoration at $\theta=\pi$ occurs at temperature higher than the deconfining temperature unlike the situation in the large-$N$ limit.