  In Euclidean four-dimensional SU(N) pure gauge theory, eigenvalue
distributions of Wilson loop parallel transport matrices around closed
spacetime curves show non-analytic behavior (a 'large-N phase transition') at a
critical size of the curve. We focus mainly on an observable composed of traces
of the Wilson loop operator in all totally antisymmetric representations, which
is regularized with the help of smearing. By studying sequences of square
Wilson loops on a hypercubic lattice with standard Wilson action, it is shown
that this observable has a nontrivial continuum limit as a function of the
physical size of the loop. We furthermore present (preliminary) numerical
results confirming that, for large N, the N dependence in the critical regime
is governed by the universal exponents 1/2 and 3/4 as expected (Burgers
universality).
