SU(2) Yang-Mills Theory: Waves, Particles, and Quantum Thermodynamics

We elucidate how Quantum Thermodynamics at temperature $T$ emerges from pure and classical SU(2) Yang-Mills theory on a four-dimensional Euclidean spacetime slice $S_1\times {\bf R}^3$. The concept of a (deconfining) thermal ground state, composed of certain solutions to the fundamental, classical Yang-Mills equation, allows for a unified addressation of both (classical) wave- and (quantum) particle-like excitations thereof.