A Study of the Bulk Phase Transitions of the SU(2) Lattice Gauge Theory with Mixed Action

Abstract

Using the finite size scaling theory, we re-examine the nature of the bulk phase transition in the fundamental-adjoint coupling plane of the SU(2) lattice gauge theory at $\beta_A = 1.25$ where previous finite size scaling investigations of the deconfinement phase transition showed it to be of first order for temporal lattices with four sites. Our simulations on $N^4$ lattices with N=6, 8, 10, 12 and 16 show an absence of a first order bulk phase transition. We find the discontinuity in the average plaquette to decrease approximately linearly with $N$. Correspondingly, the plaquette susceptibility grows a lot slower with the 4-volume of the lattice than expected from a first order bulk phase transition.