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We study effective lattice actions describing the Polyakov loop dynamics originating from finite-temperature Yang-Mills theory. Starting with a strong-coupling expansion the effective action is obtained as a series of Z(3)-invariant operators involving higher and higher powers of the Polyakov loop, each with its own coupling. Truncating to a subclass with two couplings we perform a detailed analysis of the statistical mechanics involved. To this end we employ a modified mean field approximation and Monte Carlo simulations based on a novel cluster algorithm. We find excellent agreement of both approaches concerning the phase structure of the theories. The phase diagram exhibits both first and second order transitions between symmetric, ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic phases with phase boundaries merging at three tricritical points. The critical exponents ν and γ at the continuous transition between symmetric and anti-ferromagnetic phases are the same as for the 3-state Potts model.

We compare different Polyakov loop actions yielding effective descriptions of finite-temperature SU (2) Yang-Mills theory on the lattice. The actions are motivated by a simultaneous strongcoupling and character expansion obeying center symmetry and include both Ising and GinzburgLandau type models. To keep things simple we limit ourselves to nearest-neighbor interactions. Some truncations involving the most relevant characters are studied within a novel mean-field approximation. Using inverse Monte-Carlo techniques based on exact geometrical Schwinger-Dyson equations we determine the effective couplings of the Polyakov loop actions. Monte-Carlo simulations of these actions reveal that the mean-field analysis is a fairly good guide to the physics involved. Our Polyakov loop actions reproduce standard Yang-Mills observables well up to limitations due to the nearest-neighbor approximation.

This paper concludes our efforts in describing SU (3)-Yang-Mills theories at different couplings/temperatures in terms of effective Polyakov-loop models. The associated effective couplings are determined through an inverse Monte Carlo procedure based on novel Schwinger-Dyson equations that employ the symmetries of the Haar measure. Due to the first-order nature of the phase transition we encounter a fine-tuning problem in reproducing the correct behavior of the Polyakov-loop from the effective models. The problem remains under control as long as the number of effective couplings is sufficiently small.

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