Critical acceleration of finite-temperature SU(2) gauge simulations

We present a cluster algorithm that strongly reduces critical slowing down for the SU(2) gauge theory on one time slice. The idea that underlies the new algorithm is to perform efficient flips for the signs of Polyakov loops. Ergodicity is ensured by combining it with a standard local algorithm. We show how to quantify critical slowing down for such a mixed algorithm. At the finite-temperature transition, the dynamical critical exponent z is 0.5, whereas the purely local algorithm z2.