Finite-temperature phase structure of SU(4) gauge theory with multiple fermion representations

TL;DR

This paper explores the phase transitions of an SU(4) gauge theory with multiple fermion types, revealing a single first-order transition between confined, chiral symmetry-broken and deconfined, chirally restored phases.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed analysis of the finite-temperature phase structure of SU(4) gauge theory with multiple fermion representations.

Findings

Two distinct phases: confined and deconfined

Single first-order phase transition observed

Chiral symmetry is broken at low temperature and restored at high temperature

Abstract

We investigate the phase structure of SU(4) gauge theory with the gauge field simultaneously coupled to two flavors of fermion in the fundamental representation and two flavors of fermion in the two-index antisymmetric representation. We find that the theory has only two phases, a low-temperature phase with both species of fermion confined and chirally broken, and a high-temperature phase with both species of fermion deconfined and chirally restored. The single phase transition in the theory appears to be first order, in agreement with theoretical predictions.