FINITE SIZE EFFECT ON THE MEASUREMENT OF STRING TENSION

The finite size behavior of the Wilson loop and the correlation of Wilson lines is calculated using a simple scalar string model and lattice regularization. The result can be directly compared with Monte Carlo data of lattice gauge theory. We show as an example that σW (string tension estimated from Wilson loop) ≤σ≤ σΓ (string tension estimated from correlation of Wilson lines), in agreement with current Monte Carlo results. We also discuss a number of advantages of our lattice regularization result over zeta-function regularization results in the literature. © 1990.