Fisher's zeros in lattice gauge theory

In this thesis, we study the Fisher's zeros in lattice gauge theory. The analysis of singularities in the complex coupling plane is an important tool to understand the critical phenomena of statistical models. The Fisher's zero structure characterizes the scaling properties of the underlying models and has a strong influence on the complex renormalization group transformation flows in the region away from both the strong and weak coupling regimes. By reconstructing the density of states, we try to develop a systematical method to investigate these singularities and we apply the method to SU(2) and U(1) lattice gauge models with a Wilson action in the fundamental representation. We first take the perturbative approach. By using the saddle point approximation, we construct the series expansions of the density of states in both of the strong and weak regimes from the strong and weak coupling expansions of the free energy density. We analyze the SU(2) and U(1) models. The expansions in the strong and weak regimes for the two models indicate both possess finite radii of convergence, suggesting the existence of complex singularities. We then perform the numerical calculations. We use Monte Carlo simulations to construct the numerical density of states of the SU(2) and U(1) models. We also discuss the convergence of the Ferrenberg-Swendsen's method which we use for the SU(2) model and propose a practical method to find the initial values that improve the convergence of the iterations. The strong and weak series expansions are in good agreement with the numerical results in their respective limits. The numerical calculations also enable the discussion of the finite volume effects which are important to the weak expansion. We calculate the Fisher's zeros of the SU(2) and U(1) models at various volumes using the numerical entropy density functions. We compare different methods of locating the zeros. By the assumption of validity of the saddle point approximation, we find that the roots of the second derivative of the entropy density function have an interesting relation with the actual zeros and may possibly reveal the scaling property of the zeros. Using the analytic approximation of the numerical density of states, we are able to locate the Fisher's zeros of the SU(2) and U(1) models. The zeros of the SU(2) stabilize at a distance from the real axis, which is compatible with the scenario that a crossover instead of a phase transition is expected in the infinite volume limit. In contrast, with the precise determination of the locations of Fisher's zeros for the U(1) model at smaller lattice sizes L=4, 6 and 8, we show that the imaginary parts of the zeros decrease with a power law of L^-3.07 and pinch the real axis at β= 1.01134, which agrees with results using other methods. Preliminary results at larger volumes indicate a first-order transition in the infinite volume limit.