Bulk and finite-temperature transitions in SU(3) gauge theories with many light fermions

TL;DR

This study explores finite-temperature phase transitions in SU(3) gauge theories with 8 and 12 light fermions, revealing a strongly-coupled lattice phase and contrasting behaviors that inform understanding of QCD-like dynamics.

Contribution

The paper provides new lattice simulation results for finite-temperature transitions in SU(3) theories with 8 and 12 flavors, highlighting differences in their phase structures and the presence of a strongly-coupled lattice phase.

Findings

Nf=12 transitions accumulate at the bulk transition boundary.

Nf=8 transitions pass through the bulk transition, behaving like QCD.

Identification of a strongly-coupled lattice phase with broken shift symmetry.

Abstract

We investigate finite-temperature transitions in SU(3) lattice gauge theories with Nf=8 and 12 staggered fermions in the fundamental representation. For both of these systems, we have observed a strongly-coupled lattice phase in which the single-site shift symmetry of the staggered action is spontaneously broken. Here we report new results for finite-temperature transitions on 24^3x12 and 32^3x16 lattice volumes, contrasting the 8- and 12-flavor systems. While the Nf=12 finite-temperature transitions accumulate at the bulk transition bounding the strongly-coupled lattice phase, the Nf=8 finite-temperature transitions are able to pass through the bulk transition, and behave as expected for a QCD-like system. We discuss our current results and the work in progress to complete our investigation of the finite-temperature phase diagram.