Vortex free energy and string tension at strong and intermediate coupling

We present results of high temperature expansions up to order g −24 for the vortex free energy respectively string tension in pure lattice gauge theories with gauge groups SU(2) and Z 2 in 3 and 4 dimensions. For SU(2) in 4 dimensions the result is compared with Monte Carlo calculations of Creutz and is in good agreement. An intermediate coupling region is seen, where the string tension smoothly interpolates between strong coupling and weak coupling behaviour