The quenched limit of lattice QCD at non-zero baryon number
Abstract
We discuss the thermodynamics of gluons in the background of static quark sources. In order to do so we formulate the quenched limit of QCD at non-zero baryon number. A first numerical analysis of this system shows that it undergoes a deconfining transition which, however, may not lead to singularities in thermodynamic observables. We find evidence for a mixed phase that becomes broader with increasing baryon number density. Although the action is in our formulation explicitly Z(3) symmetric the Polyakov loop expectation value becomes non-zero already in the low temperature phase. It indicates that the heavy quark potential stays finite at large distances, i.e. the string between static quarks breaks at non-zero baryon number density already in the hadronic phase.Keywords
All Related Versions
This publication has 0 references indexed in Scilit: