Interaction potential between heavy $Q \bar{Q}$ in color octet configuration in QGP

TL;DR

This paper nonperturbatively calculates the effective thermal potential between a heavy quark-antiquark pair in a color octet state within a gluon plasma, providing insights into their interactions at high temperatures.

Contribution

It introduces a nonperturbative method to determine the octet potential in a gluon plasma, advancing understanding of heavy quark interactions in hot QCD matter.

Findings

Effective thermal potential for octet $Q ar{Q}$ pair calculated

Results applicable for temperatures up to about twice the critical temperature

Implications discussed for quark-gluon plasma physics

Abstract

We investigate the interaction between a heavy quark-antiquark pair in color octet configuration in gluon plasma. We calculate nonperturbatively an effective thermal potential for such a pair through the study of the correlation function of a hybrid state with $Q \bar{Q}$ octet and an adjoint gluon source in the static limit. We discuss the extraction of an octet potential, and present results for the effective thermal potential between octet $Q \bar{Q}$ pair in gluon plasma for moderately high temperatures $\lesssim 2 T_c$. The implications of our result are discussed.