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The Phase Structure of an SU(N) Gauge Theory with N_f Flavors

Thomas Appelquist·Anuradha Ratnaweera·John Terning·L. C. R. Wijewardhana
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Abstract

We investigate the chiral phase transition in SU(N) gauge theories as the number of quark flavors, $N_f$, is varied. We argue that the transition takes place at a large enough value of $N_f$ so that it is governed by the infrared fixed point of the $β$ function. We study the nature of the phase transition analytically and numerically, and discuss the spectrum of the theory as the critical value of $N_f$ is approached in both the symmetric and broken phases. Since the transition is governed by a conformal fixed point, there are no light excitations on the symmetric side. We extend previous work to include higher order effects by developing a renormalization group estimate of the critical coupling.

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Thomas Appelquist, Anuradha Ratnaweera, John Terning, L. C. R. Wijewardhana. 1998-08-26. The Phase Structure of an SU(N) Gauge Theory with N_f Flavors. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevd.58.105017

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