On the large-N phase transition in the heat kernel lattice gauge theory

The heat kernel lattice gauge theory, which avoids an N = infinity phase transition in d = 2, is examined in higher dimensions to see whether this property persists. To the contrary, in d = 4 there is a phase transition. The critical inverse coupling, βsub(c) = 1/g2sub(c)N, is computed and found to be approximately 0.3. In d = 3 naive arguments also suggest the existence of a large-N phase transition. (orig.)