Accurate scale determinations for the Wilson gauge action Original Research Article

Accurate determinations of the physical scale of a lattice action are required to check scaling and take the continuum limit. We present a high statistics study of the static potential for the SU(3) Wilson gauge action on coarse lattices (5.54 ⩽ β ⩽ 6.0). Using an improved analysis procedure we determine the string tension and the Sommer scale ro (and related quantities) to I% accuracy, including all systematic errors. Combining our results with earlier ones on finer lattices, we present parameterizations of these quantities that should be accurate to about 1 % for 5.6 ⩽ β S 6.5. We estimate the A-parameter of quenched QCD to be ΛGMs = 247(16) MeV.