Center-symmetric dimensional reduction of hot Yang-Mills theory

TL;DR

This paper introduces a center-symmetric effective theory for high-temperature SU(N) Yang-Mills theory, extending the applicability of dimensionally reduced models towards the deconfinement transition, and confirms its phase transition behavior via lattice simulations.

Contribution

It constructs and tests a new center-symmetric effective theory for SU(2) Yang-Mills theory, showing improved alignment with the full theory's phase transition.

Findings

The new theory exhibits a second order confining phase transition.

Lattice simulations confirm the theory's phase transition behavior matches the full theory.

The center-symmetric theory extends the validity range of dimensionally reduced models.

Abstract

It is expected that incorporating the center symmetry in the conventional dimensionally reduced effective theory for high-temperature SU(N) Yang-Mills theory, EQCD, will considerably extend its applicability towards the deconfinement transition. The construction of such a center-symmetric effective theory for the case of two colors is reviewed and lattice simulation results are presented. The simulations demonstrate that unlike EQCD, the new center-symmetric theory undergoes a second order confining phase transition in complete analogy with the full theory.