How Wide is the Transition to Deconfinement?

TL;DR

This paper develops a simple matrix model based on lattice data to analyze the width of the deconfinement transition in pure SU(3) gauge theories, revealing a narrow transition region around 1.2 Tc with implications for heavy ion collisions.

Contribution

It introduces a three-parameter matrix model to describe the transition region in pure SU(3) gauge theories using lattice measurements.

Findings

Transition region extends only to about 1.2 Tc

Discrepancy between pressure-based and Polyakov loop measurements

Implications for heavy ion collision experiments at RHIC and LHC

Abstract

Pure SU(3) glue theories exhibit a deconfining phase transition at a nonzero temperature, Tc. Using lattice measurements of the pressure, we develop a simple matrix model to describe the transition region, when T > Tc. This model, which involves three parameters, is used to compute the behavior of the 't Hooft loop. There is a Higgs phase in this region, where off diagonal color modes are heavy, and diagonal modes are light. Lattice measurements of the latter suggests that the transition region is narrow, extending only to about 1.2 Tc. This is in stark contrast to lattice measurements of the renormalized Polyakov loop, which indicates a much wider width. The possible implications for the differences in heavy ion collisions between RHIC and the LHC are discussed.