Critical slowing down of topological modes

We investigate the critical slowing down of the topological modes using local updating algorithms in lattice 2-d CP^(N-1) models. We show that the topological modes experience a critical slowing down that is much more severe than the one of the quasi-Gaussian modes relevant to the magnetic susceptibility, which is characterized by $\tau_{\rm mag} \sim \xi^z$ with $z\approx 2$. We argue that this may be a general feature of Monte Carlo simulations of lattice theories with non-trivial topological properties, such as QCD, as also suggested by recent Monte Carlo simulations of 4-d SU(N) lattice gauge theories.