Cooling and the SU(2) Instanton Vaccuum

TL;DR

This paper investigates the properties of instantons in 4D pure gauge SU(2) lattice configurations using cooled lattice data, comparing shapes, sizes, and locations with continuum results and previous studies.

Contribution

It extends previous methods for analyzing instantons to SU(2) lattice gauge theory and compares cooling effects and instanton characteristics with continuum and other group results.

Findings

Calibrated cooling affects instanton detection and properties.

Shapes, sizes, and locations of instantons are consistent with continuum theory.

Comparison with other groups' results validates the methodology.

Abstract

We present results of an investigation into the nature of instantons in 4-dimensional pure gauge lattice $SU(2)$\ obtained from configurations which have been cooled using an under-relaxed cooling algorithm. We discuss ways of calibrating the cooling and the effects of different degrees of cooling, and compare our data for the shapes, sizes and locations of instantons with continuum results. In this paper we extend the ideas and techniques developed by us for use in $O(3)$, and compare the results with those obtained by other groups.