Gradient and Hessian-Based Temperature Estimator in Lattice Gauge Theories: A Diagnostic Tool for Stability and Consistency in Numerical Simulations

Abstract: We present a field configuration-based temperature estimator in lattice gauge theories. It is constructed from the gradient and Hessian of the Euclidean action of the theory. Adapted from geometric formulations of entropy in classical statistical mechanics, this estimator provides a gauge-invariant, non-kinetic diagnostic of thermodynamic consistency in Monte Carlo simulations of lattice gauge theories. We validate the method in compact U(1) lattice gauge theories across one, two, and four dimensions, comparing the estimated temperature to the input temperature. Our results show that the estimator accurately reproduces the input temperature and remains robust across a range of lattice volumes and coupling strengths. The temperature estimator offers a general-purpose diagnostic for lattice field theory simulations, with potential applications to non-Abelian theories, anisotropic lattices, and real-time monitoring in hybrid Monte Carlo algorithms.