The critical behavior of the SU(2) gauge theory near the deconfinement temperature is studied by the Monte Carlo renormalization-group method applied directly to the three-dimensional system of thermal Wilson loops. A blocking transformation, optimized to move the critical point as close as possible to the physical axis in the parameter space, gives a value of ν=0.59±0.05 for the correlation (critical) exponent. This value is in excellent agreement with predictions that the system is in the same universality class as the three-dimensional Ising model.

• Received 22 October 1986

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.35.1979