Correlation and specific heat of U(1) and SU(2) lattice gauge models

Describes some recent work on Monte Carlo simulations of U(1) and SU (2) lattice gauge models. The authors have primarily been interested in the correlations between Wilson plaquettes in order to study the nature of the transition between the strong and weak coupling regimes. Since lattice gauge models confine static charges in the strong coupling limit, it is expected that U(1) models in four dimensions exhibit a phase transition to a weak coupling Coulomb phase, corresponding to QED. For SU(2) models the lore is that there does not exist any phase transition. In this case confinement is also a property of the continuum limit which corresponds to QCD. While the existence of a phase transition in the U(1) model can be demonstrated rigorously, virtually nothing is known theoretically about the order of this transition. For the SU(2) model there is some evidence in support of a single confining phase based on strong coupling expansions, and on Monte Carlo calculations. (8 refs)