Order, Disorder and Confinement

TL;DR

This paper investigates the nature of the chiral transition for two flavors, providing evidence that it is first order, which has implications for understanding the mechanism of color confinement in quantum chromodynamics.

Contribution

The study introduces a novel finite size scaling analysis strategy to determine the order of the chiral transition, excluding second order universality classes and supporting a first order transition.

Findings

Second order transition in O(4) and O(2) universality classes are excluded.

Substantial evidence supports a first order transition.

Results align with disorder parameter studies related to dual superconductivity.

Abstract

Studying the order of the chiral transition for $N_f=2$ is of fundamental importance to understand the mechanism of color confinement. We present results of a numerical investigation on the order of the transition by use of a novel strategy in finite size scaling analysis. The specific heat and a number of susceptibilities are compared with the possible critical behaviours. A second order transition in the O(4) and O(2) universality classes are excluded. Substantial evidence emerges for a first order transition. Results are in agreement with those found by studying the scaling properties of a disorder parameter related to the dual superconductivity mechanism of color confinement.