Universality in finite temperature lattice QCD

In the lattice regularization of QCD, physical results must be independent of the choice of lattice action. Finite temperature thermodynamics provides a very sensitive test of this universality, providing a functional comparison between the predictions of different actions. We study thermodynamics using Wilson's, Manton's and Villain's actions as well as the mixed fundamental-adjoint form of Bhanot and Creutz. Our results support universality in all cases, but indicate that in general the region of couplings in present lattice calculations requires the inclusion of higher order effects in the perturbative solution of the renormalization group equation.