Abstract
We measure the topological charge density of the (Monte Carlo generated) SU(3) vacuum. Our algorithm involves first smoothening the generated configurations in a way that conserves the total charge in the continuum limit. We work in a range of couplings 5.6 ⩽ β ≡ 6/ g 2 ⩽ 6.0 and on lattice sizes up to 16 4. We find that the topological susceptibility scales like the string tension (within errors). This allows us to extract a value in physical units, X t 1 4 = 191 ± 16 MeV , in good agreement with the Witten-Veneziano mass formula. We also show how X t is strongly suppressed as the temperature is increased through the deconfining transition, so that the U A(1) symmetry is effectively restored in the deconfined phase. Our results leave open the possibility that X t is an order parameter for this transition. We carefully monitor finite size effects and perform a variety of calculations - reproducibility, stability under Monte Carlo, distribution of core sizes, etc. - which give us a direct insight into the approach to continuum topology.
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