Crossover from strong to weak coupling in lattice gauge theory with dynamical fermions

Abstract

Using microcanonical simulation techniques we study SO(3) gauge theory with dynamical quarks and contrast the results with quenched simulations. We measure the expectation values of the gauge action, ψ¯ψ, and the $Z_2$ monopole current density. We locate the first-order bulk transition in the quenched case by exhibiting metastable states and find that the effect of the light dynamical fermions on the transition is simply a shift in the critical coupling.