Exceptional Deconfinement in G(2) Gauge Theory

TL;DR

This paper provides numerical evidence for a first-order deconfinement phase transition in G(2) gauge theory, despite its trivial center, and explores its relation to SU(3) Yang-Mills theory via the Higgs mechanism.

Contribution

It demonstrates the existence of a deconfinement transition in G(2) gauge theory and investigates its independence from the SU(3) transition through scalar field variation.

Findings

G(2) exhibits a first-order deconfinement transition.

The G(2) transition appears disconnected from the SU(3) transition.

A potential dynamical mechanism for this behavior is discussed.

Abstract

The Z(N) center symmetry plays an important role in the deconfinement phase transition of SU(N) Yang-Mills theory at finite temperature. The exceptional group G(2) is the smallest simply connected gauge group with a trivial center. Hence, there is no symmetry reason why the low- and high-temperature regimes in G(2) Yang-Mills theory should be separated by a phase transition. Still, we present numerical evidence for the presence of a first order deconfinement phase transition at finite temperature. Via the Higgs mechanism, G(2) breaks to its SU(3) subgroup when a scalar field in the fundamental {7} representation acquires a vacuum expectation value v. Varying v we investigate how the G(2) deconfinement transition is related to the one in SU(3) Yang-Mills theory. Interestingly, the two transitions seem to be disconnected. We also discuss a potential dynamical mechanism that may explain this behavior.