Calibration of Smearing and Cooling Algorithms in SU(3)-Color Gauge Theory

TL;DR

This paper compares the effects of cooling and smearing algorithms on gauge field configurations in SU(3) gauge theory, providing simple formulae to describe their relative rates of change in action and topological charge.

Contribution

It introduces a method to quantify and compare the rates of cooling and smearing algorithms using action and topological charge in SU(3) gauge theory, aligning with perturbation theory predictions.

Findings

Relative rates of variation are well described by simple formulae.

Results agree with recent fat-link perturbation theory predictions.

Provides a practical framework for analyzing gauge field smoothing algorithms.

Abstract

The action and topological charge are used to determine the relative rates of standard cooling and smearing algorithms in pure SU(3)-color gauge theory. We consider representative gauge field configurations on $16^3\times 32$ lattices at $\beta=5.70$ and $24^3\times 36$ lattices at $\beta=6.00$. We find the relative rate of variation in the action and topological charge under various algorithms may be succinctly described in terms of simple formulae. The results are in accord with recent suggestions from fat-link perturbation theory.