# Finite Temperature Transitions in Lattice QCD with Wilson Quarks --- Chiral Transitions and the Influence of the Strange Quark ---

## TL;DR

This study investigates the nature of finite temperature phase transitions in lattice QCD with Wilson quarks across different flavor configurations, revealing continuous transitions for two flavors and first-order transitions for three or more, including realistic quark masses.

## Contribution

It provides new insights into the order of chiral phase transitions in lattice QCD with Wilson quarks for various flavor numbers and quark mass setups.

## Key findings

- Transition is continuous for N_F=2.
- Transition is first order for N_F=3 and 6.
- First order transition occurs with physical strange quark mass.

## Abstract

The nature of finite temperature transitions in lattice QCD with Wilson quarks is studied near the chiral limit for the cases of 2, 3, and 6 flavors of degenerate quarks ($N_F=2$, 3, and 6) and also for the case of massless up and down quarks and a light strange quark ($N_F=2+1$). Our simulations mainly performed on lattices with the temporal direction extension $N_t=4$ indicate that the finite temperature transition in the chiral limit (chiral transition) is continuous for $N_F=2$, while it is of first order for $N_F=3$ and 6. We find that the transition is of first order for the case of massless up and down quarks and the physical strange quark where we obtain a value of $m_\phi/m_\rho$ consistent with the physical value. We also discuss the phase structure at zero temperature as well as that at finite temperatures.