Polyakov loop fluctuations in the presence of external fields

TL;DR

This paper investigates how external fields and symmetry breaking affect Polyakov loop fluctuations in QCD, using an effective model that aligns well with lattice results and reveals a new scaling relation.

Contribution

It introduces an effective model approach to study Polyakov loop susceptibilities under symmetry breaking and uncovers a novel scaling relation involving external fields, volume, and temperature.

Findings

Effective model reproduces lattice QCD susceptibility ratios.

Identifies a new scaling relation involving explicit symmetry breaking.

Shows the impact of external fields on Polyakov loop fluctuations.

Abstract

We study the implications of the spontaneous and explicit Z(3) center symmetry breaking for the Polyakov loop susceptibilities. To this end, ratios of the susceptibilities of the real and imaginary parts, as well as of the modulus of the Polyakov loop are computed within an effective model using a color group integration scheme. We show that the essential features of the lattice QCD results of these ratios can be successfully captured by the effective approach. Furthermore we discuss a novel scaling relation in one of these ratios involving the explicit breaking field, volume, and temperature.