Static quark potential and string tension for compact U(1) in (2+1) dimensions

Compact U(1) lattice gauge theory in (2+1) dimensions is studied on anisotropic lattices using Standard Path Integral Monte Carlo techniques. We extract the static quark potential and the string tension from 1.0 <= Dtau <= 0.333 simulations at 1.0 <= beta <= 3.0. Estimating the actual value of the renormalization constant, (c = 44), we observe the evidence of scaling in the string tension for 1.4142 <= beta <= 2.5; with the asymptotic behaviour in the large-beta limit given by K sqrt(beta) = e^(-2.494 beta +2.29). Extrapolations are made to the extreme anisotropic or "Hamiltonian" limit, and comparisons are made with previous estimates obtained by various other methods in the Hamiltonian formulation.