Density of states and Fisher's zeros in compact U(1) pure gauge theory

Abstract

We present high-accuracy calculations of the density of states using multicanonical methods for lattice gauge theory with a compact gauge group U(1) on 4^4, 6^4 and 8^4 lattices. We show that the results are consistent with weak and strong coupling expansions. We present methods based on Chebyshev interpolations and Cauchy theorem to find the (Fisher's) zeros of the partition function in the complex beta=1/g^2 plane. The results are consistent with reweighting methods whenever the latter are accurate. We discuss the volume dependence of the imaginary part of the Fisher's zeros, the width and depth of the plaquette distribution at the value of beta where the two peaks have equal height. We discuss strategies to discriminate between first and second order transitions and explore them with data at larger volume but lower statistics. Higher statistics and even larger lattices are necessary to draw strong conclusions regarding the order of the transition.