Exceptional deconfinernent in G(2) gauge theory

The Z(N) center symmetry plays an important role in the deconfinement phase transition of SU(N) Yang-Mills theory at finite temperature. The exceptional group G(2) is the smallest simply connected gauge group with a trivial center. Hence, there is no symmetry reason why the low- and high-temperature regimes in G(2) Yang-Mills theory should be separated by a phase transition. Still, we present numerical evidence for the presence of a first order deconfinement phase transition at finite temperature. Via the Higgs mechanism, G(2) breaks to its SU(3) subgroup when a scalar field in the fundamental (7) representation acquires a vacuum expectation value v. Varying v we investigate how the G(2) deconfinement transition is related to the one in SU(3) Yang-Mills theory. Interestingly, the two transitions seem to be disconnected. We also discuss a potential dynamical mechanism that may explain this behavior. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.