How instantons could survive the phase transition

TL;DR

This paper explores how instantons, composed of dyons, behave across phase transitions, explaining changes in chiral condensates and topological susceptibility at finite temperatures.

Contribution

It demonstrates that the suppression of heavy dyons can qualitatively account for the behavior of key QCD observables during the phase transition.

Findings

Heavy dyons are suppressed above the phase transition.

The suppression explains the changes in chiral condensates.

Topological susceptibility behavior is accounted for.

Abstract

Instantons at finite temperature consist of dyons, with their masses depending on the asymptotic Polyakov loop. It is shown that the suppression of heavy dyons can explain qualitatively the behavior of the periodic and antiperiodic chiral condensate and the topological susceptibility above the phase transition.