Wilson action

In lattice field theory, the Wilson action is a discrete formulation of the Yang–Mills action, forming the foundation of lattice gauge theory. Rather than using Lie algebra valued gauge fields as the fundamental parameters of the theory, group valued link fields are used instead, which correspond to the smallest Wilson lines on the lattice. In modern simulations of pure gauge theory, the action is usually modified by introducing higher order operators through Symanzik improvement, significantly reducing discretization errors. The action was introduced by Kenneth Wilson in his seminal 1974 paper,^[1] launching the study of lattice field theory.