Latent heat of the large N finite temperature phase transition

Reduced large N gauge theories have a phase with unbroken center symmetry and phases in which that symmetry is broken for Polyakov loops in one or more lattice directions. The phase with unbroken symmetry is associated with the zero temperature, infinite volume, infinite N theory while the phase in which the symmetry is broken in just one lattice direction has been conjectured to be the spatial reduction of the high temperature, infinite volume, infinite N theory. Measurements of the scaling properties of the latent heat of the transition between these phases test that hypothesis. The results indicate a non-zero latent heat in the continuum limit. Substantial finite spacing effects remain, and finer lattices will be needed to confirm physical scaling.