Equation of state for pure SU(3) gauge theory on anisotropic lattices

TL;DR

This paper calculates the equation of state for pure SU(3) gauge theory on anisotropic lattices, demonstrating improved accuracy and reliable continuum extrapolations compared to isotropic methods.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed results for the equation of state on anisotropic lattices with controlled continuum extrapolation, improving precision over previous isotropic lattice studies.

Findings

Pressure and energy density satisfy leading $1/N_t^2$ scaling.

Results agree with isotropic lattice calculations.

Anisotropic lattices yield smaller, more reliable errors.

Abstract

We present results for the equation of state for pure SU(3) gauge theory obtained on anisotropic lattices with the anisotropy $\xi \equiv a_s/a_t = 2$. The pressure and energy density are calculated on $N_t / \xi = 4, 5$ and 6 lattices with the integral method. They are found to satisfy the leading $1/N_t^2$ scaling from our coarsest lattice $N_t/\xi=4$. This enables us to carry out well controlled continuum extrapolations. We find that the pressure and energy density agree with those obtained using the isotropic plaquette action, but have smaller and more reliable errors.