Deconfining Phase Transition in 2+1 D: the Georgi-Glashow Model

TL;DR

This paper investigates the deconfining phase transition in the 2+1 dimensional Georgi-Glashow model, showing it is driven by magnetic symmetry restoration and belongs to the Ising universality class, with implications for critical temperature predictions.

Contribution

It explicitly demonstrates the role of magnetic $Z_2$ symmetry in the transition and highlights the importance of charged W bosons in accurate predictions, providing a detailed effective action analysis.

Findings

Transition is due to magnetic $Z_2$ symmetry restoration

Transition belongs to the Ising universality class

Neglecting W bosons leads to incorrect critical temperature predictions

Abstract

We analyze the finite temperature deconfining phase transition in 2+1 dimensional Georgi-Glashow model. We show explicitly that the transition is due to the restoration of the magnetic $Z_2$ symmetry and that it is in the Ising universality class. We find that neglecting effects of the charged $W$ bosons leads to incorrect predictions for the value of the critical temperature and the universality class of the transition, as well as for various correlation functions in the high temperature phase. We derive the effective action for the Polyakov loop in the high temperature phase and calculate the correlation functions of magnetic vortex operators.