Hard Thermal Loops, Chern-Simons Theory and the Quark-Gluon Plasma

TL;DR

This paper explores the connection between hard thermal loops in QCD, Chern-Simons theory, and the gauged WZNW-action, highlighting their roles in thermal field theory and perturbative calculations.

Contribution

It reviews the relationship between the generating functional for hard thermal loops, Chern-Simons theory, and the gauged WZNW-action, providing insights into their interplay in thermal QCD.

Findings

Relation between hard thermal loops and Chern-Simons theory elucidated

Auxiliary field approach links to gauged WZNW-action

Discussion of damping effects in induced current

Abstract

The generating functional for hard thermal loops in QCD is important in setting up a resummed perturbation theory. I review how this functional is related to the eikonal for a Chern-Simons theory, and using an auxiliary field, to the gauged WZNW-action. The induced current due to hard thermal loops, properly incorporating damping effects, is also briefly discussed. (Invited talk at the Third Worshop on Thermal Field Theories, Banff, Canada, August, 1993.)