On the SU(2)-Higgs Phase Transition

The properties of the Confinement-Higgs phase transition in the SU(2)-Higgs model with fixed modulus are investigated. We show that the system exhibits a transient behavior up to L=24 along which the order of the phase transition cannot be discerned. To get stronger conclusions about this point, without going to prohibitive large lattice sizes, we have introduced a second (next-to-nearest neighbors) gauge-Higgs coupling, k2. On this extended parameter space we find a line of phase transitions which become increasely weaker as k2 tends to 0. The results point to a first order character for the transition with the standard action (k2 = 0).Comment: Replaced with revised version, some minor changes added. Accepted for publication in Nuc. Phys.