Thermal precondensation in gauge-fermion theories
Abstract
Precondensation is a peculiar phenomenon in phase transitions, characterised by the occurrence of a condensate only over a finite range of length scales. It is closely connected to the emergence of domains, pseudo-gapped phases and spatial inhomogeneities in equilibrium. In this work, we show its occurrence in gauge-fermion theories in the chiral limit, close to the thermal chiral phase transition. We further show that the precondensation regime becomes increasingly pronounced and extends over a wider temperature range as the number of fermion flavours is increased. We analyse the underlying dynamics which is shared by a broad class of fermionic systems, ranging from condensed matter to high-energy physics. Specifically, we discuss the potential relevance of this phenomenon for physics beyond the Standard Model.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.2602.11265,
title = {Thermal precondensation in gauge-fermion theories},
author = {Álvaro Pastor-Gutiérrez and Jan M. Pawlowski and Franz R. Sattler},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2602.11265},
year = {2026}
}