Low-dimensional Light Front Gauge Theory at Finite Temperature

The thermodynamical properties of QED and QCD in 1+1 dimensions are investigated by means of discrete light cone quantization. By direct evaluation of the partition function in the canonical ensemble we are able to compute various thermodynamical quantities for different coupling strengths. In order to obtain unambiguous results the continuum as well as the bulk limit need to be carefully addressed. Due to the increased harmonic resolution the estimates of low lying bound state masses in the massive Schwinger model are almost two orders of magnitude more accurate than previous light cone calculations.