Correlation functions of the energy-momentum tensor in SU(2) gauge theory at finite temperature

TL;DR

This paper investigates the behavior of energy-momentum tensor correlation functions near the deconfinement transition in SU(2) gauge theory, revealing divergence in trace correlations and finite pressure correlations, impacting transport coefficient analysis.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed analysis of energy-momentum tensor correlations near the second order deconfinement transition in SU(2) gauge theory, highlighting their critical behavior.

Findings

Trace correlation functions diverge at the critical point.

Pressure correlation functions remain finite at the critical point.

Implications for bulk viscosity near phase transition.

Abstract

We calculate correlation functions of the energy-momentum tensor in the vicinity of the deconfinement phase transition of (3+1)-dimensional SU(2) gauge theory and discuss their critical behavior in the vicinity of the second order deconfinement transition. We show that correlation functions of the trace of the energy momentum tensor diverge uniformly at the critical point in proportion to the specific heat singularity. Correlation functions of the pressure, on the other hand, stay finite at the critical point. We discuss the consequences of these findings for the analysis of transport coefficients, in particular the bulk viscosity, in the vicinity of a second order phase transition point.