Topological features of the deconfinement transition

TL;DR

This paper studies the topological properties of the deconfinement transition in SU(3) Yang-Mills theory, linking topological susceptibility behavior to phase diagram features and latent heat at the transition.

Contribution

It introduces an analysis of topological susceptibility and cumulants around the transition, connecting topological features to thermodynamic and phase diagram properties.

Findings

Topological susceptibility shows non-analytical behavior at the transition

Connection established between topological features and latent heat

Insights into the phase diagram curvature in the $T- heta$ plane

Abstract

The first order transition between the confining and the center symmetry breaking phases of the SU(3) Yang-Mills theory is marked by discontinuities in various thermodynamics functions, such as the energy density or the value of the Polyakov loop. We investigate the non-analytical behaviour of the topological susceptibility and its higher cumulant around the transition temperature and make the connection to the curvature of the phase diagram in the $T-\theta$ plane and to the latent heat.