Related papers: One-Loop QCD Corrections to the Thermal Wilson Lin…
We describe the "relative weights" method used to compute the effective Polyakov line action corresponding to a given lattice gauge theory, and present some results that have been obtained so far. The main motivation is the sign problem,…
Using combined strong coupling and hopping parameter expansions, we derive an effective three-dimensional theory from thermal lattice QCD with heavy Wilson quarks. The theory depends on traced Polyakov loops only and correctly reflects the…
We derive the Polyakov-loop thermodynamic potential in the perturbative approach to pure SU(3) Yang-Mills theory. The potential expressed in terms of the Polyakov loop in the fundamental representation corresponds to that of the…
The electron-positron `box' diagram produces an effective action which is fourth order in the electromagnetic field. We examine the behaviour of this effective action at high-temperature (in analytically continued imaginary-time thermal…
We investigate the critical endline of the finite temperature phase transition of QCD around the SU(3)-flavor symmetric point at zero chemical potential. We employ the renormalization-group improved Iwasaki gauge action and…
Effective theories for the thermal Wilson line are constructed in an SU(N) gauge theory at nonzero temperature. I propose that the order of the deconfining phase transition for Z(N) Wilson lines is governed by the behavior of SU(N) Wilson…
QCD thermodynamics is studied using a model which combines Polyakov loop dynamics with spontaneous chiral symmetry breaking and its restoration (the PNJL model). The input is fixed entirely by pure-gauge lattice QCD results and by pion…
The sign problem in QCD at finite temperature and density leads naturally to the consideration of complex saddle points of the action or effective action. The global symmetry $\mathcal{CK}$ of the finite-density action, where $\mathcal{C}$…
We analyze the dependence of the QCD transition temperature on the quark (or pion) mass. We find that a linear sigma model, which links the transition to chiral symmetry restoration, predicts a much stronger dependence of T_c on m_pi than…
We have developed a method for extracting equilibrium observables from non-equilibrium simulations by rapidly changing the temperature and recording the subsequent evolution of the Polyakov loop. Both nucleation and spinodal decomposition…
By considering the example of $SU(2)$ gluodynamics, we check numerically the idea that the strong correlation of the Polyakov loop with the longitudinal gluon propagator and related quantities can be used to substantially reduce the…
Polyakov's calculation of the effective action for the 2d nonlinear sigma-Model is generalized by purely analytic means to include contributions which are not UV-divergent and which depend on the choice of block spin. An analytic…
It has been shown that the high-temperature limit of perturbative thermal QCD is easily obtained from the Boltzmann transport equation for `classical' coloured particles. We generalize this treatment to curved space-time. We are thus able…
We examine a very simple model for which the leading contribution to the one-loop effective potential at finite temperature is uniquely defined despite the presence of the Landau terms. In addition we report on the usual non-analyticity at…
Heat kernel expansions at finite temperature of massless QCD and chiral quark models generate effective actions relevant for both low and high temperature QCD. The key relevance of the Polyakov Loop to maintain the large and…
In this talk we extend the Polyakov-quark-meson model to N_f=2+1 quark flavors and study its bulk thermodynamics at finite temperatures in mean-field approximation. Three different Polyakov-loop potentials are considered. Our findings are…
We study the critical point for finite temperature Nf=3 QCD using several temporal lattice sizes up to 10. In the study, the Iwasaki gauge action and non-perturbatively O(a) improved Wilson fermions are employed. We estimate the critical…
Effective Polyakov line actions are a powerful tool to study the finite temperature behaviour of lattice gauge theories. They are much simpler to simulate than the original (3+1) dimensional LGTs and are affected by a milder sign problem.…
First principle study of QCD at finite temperature $T$ and chemical potential $\mu$ is essential for understanding a wide range of phenomena from heavy-ion collisions to cosmology and neutron stars. However, in the presence of finite…
We start with an n-point correlation function in a conformal gauge theory. We show that a special limit produces a polygonal Wilson loop with $n$ sides. The limit takes the $n$ points towards the vertices of a null polygonal Wilson loop…