PLASMON PROPERTIES IN CLASSICAL LATTICE GAUGE-THEORY

In order to investigate the features of the classical approximation at high temperatures for real time correlation functions, the plasmon fr equencies and damping rates were recently computed numerically in the SU(2) + Higgs model and in the pure SU(2) theory. We compare the latti ce results with leading order hard thermal loop resummed perturbation theory. In the broken phase of the SU(2) + Higgs model, we show that t he lattice results can be reproduced and that the lattices used are to o coarse to observe some important plasmon effects. In the symmetric p hase, the main qualitative features of the lattice results can also be understood. In the pure SU(2) theory, on the other hand, there are di screpancies which might point to larger Landau and plasmon damping eff ects than indicated by perturbation theory. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V.