P-vortices, gauge copies and lattice size

Abstract

We study the dependence of the center-projected string tension on both the lattice size, and the number of gauge copies used for maximal center gauge fixing. We show that a recent finding of Bornyakov, Komarov, Polikarpov, and Veselov (hep-lat/0002017), indicating a substantial breakdown of center dominance in maximal center gauge, is only obtained for rather small lattice volumes, and is not found in numerical simulations on larger lattices. It is shown that center-projected Creutz ratios approach the full asymptotic string tension as lattice size increases, and that the P-vortex density is consistent, at moderately weak couplings, with 2-loop scaling behavior.