Universality of the continuum limit of lattice quantum theories

The lattice approximation of the naïve continuum action in quantum mechanics or in field theory is not uniquely determined. We investigate to what extent corrections to the lattice action, which vanish in the naïve continuum limit, affect the continuum limit when taking quantum fluctuations into account. In the quantum mechanical case, modifications of the lattice action may induce non-trivial corrections to the potential of the system and thereby change the structure of the theory completely. We verify this statement analytically as well as numerically by performing a Monte Carlo simulation. In the field theoretical case we argue that the lattice corrections considered do not affect the physics of the continuum limit, at least not for asymptotically free gauge field theories. In four dimensions, one might encounter finite renormalization of CP violating terms.