A different kind of continuum limit for the three-dimensional U(1) gauge theory

[2608.27976] A different kind of continuum limit for the three-dimensional U(1) gauge theory Skip to main content Search Submit Donate Log in High Energy Physics - Lattice arXiv:2608.27976 (hep-lat) [Submitted on 28 Aug 2026 ( v1 ), last revised 26 Oct 2026 (this version, v2)] Title: A different kind of continuum limit for the three-dimensional U(1) gauge theory Authors: Andreas Athenodorou , Claudio Bonati , Ivan Soler Calero View PDF HTML (experimental) Abstract: In three-dimensional compact U(1) lattice gauge theory color confinement can be understood analytically through the dynamics of magnetic monopoles. However, its continuum limit is pathological, since the ratio of the glueball masses to the square root of the string tension vanishes as the continuum limit is approached. We investigate a simple extension of the Wilson action in which the total number of lattice monopoles is coupled to an additional parameter $\mu$. By tuning $\beta$ and $\mu$ simultaneously, we identify a line of constant physics along which the ratio of the lightest glueball mass to the square root of the string tension remains constant. We further show that the same scaling is satisfied, within numerical uncertainties, by the other low-lying glueball masses considered in this work. Along this trajectory, the string tension in lattice units decreases with increasing $\beta$, thus suggesting that the modified lattice action may provide a regularization of three-dimensional compact U(1) gauge theory with a physically well-behaved continuum limit. Comments: 18 pages, 6 pdf figures, discussion of the monopole density improved with more data Subjects: High Energy Physics - Lattice (hep-lat) ; Statistical Mechanics (cond-mat.stat-mech); High Energy Physics - Theory (hep-th) Cite as: arXiv:2608.27976 [hep-lat] (or arXiv:2608.27976v2 [hep-lat] for this version) https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2608.27976 Focus to learn more arXiv-issued DOI via DataCite Submission history From: Claudio Bonati [ view email ] [v1] Fri, 28 Aug 2026 06:46:33 UTC (48 KB) [v2] Mon, 26 Oct 2026 14:26:59 UTC (49 KB) Full-text links: Access Paper: View PDF HTML (experimental) TeX Source view license Current browse context: hep-lat < prev | next > new | recent | 2026-08 Change to browse by: cond-mat cond-mat.stat-mech hep-th References & Citations INSPIRE HEP SciX Google Scholar Semantic Scholar export BibTeX citation Bookmark Bibliographic Tools Bibliographic and Citation Tools Bibliographic Explorer Toggle Bibliographic Explorer ( What is the Explorer? ) Connected Papers Toggle Connected Papers ( What is Connected Papers? ) Litmaps Toggle Litmaps ( What is Litmaps? ) scite.ai Toggle scite Smart Citations ( What are Smart Citations? ) Code, Data, Media Code, Data and Media Associated with this Article alphaXiv Toggle alphaXiv ( What is alphaXiv? ) Links to Code Toggle CatalyzeX Code Finder for Papers ( What is CatalyzeX? ) DagsHub Toggle DagsHub ( What is DagsHub? ) GotitPub Toggle Gotit.pub ( What is GotitPub? ) Huggingface Toggle Hugging Face ( What is Huggingface? ) ScienceCast Toggle ScienceCast ( What is ScienceCast? ) Demos Demos Replicate Toggle Replicate ( What is Replicate? ) Spaces Toggle Hugging Face Spaces ( What is Spaces? ) Spaces Toggle TXYZ.AI ( What is TXYZ.AI? ) Related Papers Recommenders and Search Tools Link to Influence Flower Influence Flower ( What are Influence Flowers? ) Core recommender toggle CORE Recommender ( What is CORE? ) Author Venue Institution Topic About arXivLabs arXivLabs: experimental projects with community collaborators arXivLabs is a framework that allows collaborators to develop and share new arXiv features directly on our website. Both individuals and organizations that work with arXivLabs have embraced and accepted our values of openness, community, excellence, and user data privacy. arXiv is committed to these values and only works with partners that adhere to them. Have an idea for a project that will add value for arXiv's community? Learn more about arXivLabs . Which authors of this paper are endorsers? | Disable MathJax ( What is MathJax? ) We gratefully acknowledge support from our major funders , member institutions , and all contributors. About · Help · Contact · Subscribe · Copyright · Privacy · Accessibility · Operational Status (opens in new tab)

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