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arXiv · hep-th/9709115

Effective potential for the order parameter of the SU(2) Yang-Mills deconfinement transition

Michael Engelhardt·Hugo Reinhardt
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Abstract

The Polyakov loop variable serves as an order parameter to characterize the confined and deconfined phases of Yang-Mills theory. By integrating out the vector fields in the SU(2) Yang-Mills partition function in one-loop approximation, an effective action is obtained for the Polyakov loop to second order in a derivative expansion. The resulting effective potential for the Polyakov loop is capable of describing a second-order deconfinement transition as a function of temperature.

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Michael Engelhardt, Hugo Reinhardt. 1997-09-16. Effective potential for the order parameter of the SU(2) Yang-Mills deconfinement transition. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0370-2693(98)00497-3

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