Measuring the string susceptibility in 2D simplicial quantum gravity using the Regge approach

Abstract

We use Monte Carlo simulations to study pure 2D Euclidean quantum gravity with $R^2$-interaction on spherical topologies, employing Regge's formulation. We attempt to measure the string susceptibility exponent $γ_{\rm str}$ by using a finite-size scaling Ansatz in the expectation value of $R^2$, as has been done in a previous study by Bock and Vink ( hep-lat/9406018 ). By considerably extending the range and statistics of their study we find that this Ansatz is plagued by large systematic errors. The $R^2$ specific string susceptibility exponent $\GS'$ is found to agree with theoretical predictions, but its determination also is subject to large systematic errors and the presence of finite-size scaling corrections. To circumvent this obstacle we suggest a new scaling Ansatz which in principle should be able to predict both, $\GS$ and $\GS'$. First results indicate that this requires large system sizes to reduce the uncertainties in the finite-size scaling Ansätze. Nevertheless, our investigation shows that within the achievable accuracy the numerical estimates are still compatible with analytic predictions, contrary to the recent claim by Bock and Vink.