2013/11/13 by Falk Bruckmann, Gergely Endrődi, Bruckmann, Falk +3 · 1 citation
Physics and Astronomy · #FOS: Physical sciences #High Energy Physics - Lattice (hep-lat) #High Energy Physics - Phenomenology (hep-ph) #High-Energy Particle Collisions Research #Particle physics theoretical and experimental studies #Quantum Chromodynamics and Particle Interactions
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1311.3178
openalex publication_date 2013/11/13 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
We propose a physical mechanism for inverse magnetic catalysis, the suppression of the chiral condensate by an external magnetic field in QCD around the critical temperature. We show that this effect, seen in lattice simulations, is a result of how the sea quarks react to the magnetic field. We find that the suppression of the condensate happens because the quark determinant can suppress low quark modes by ordering the Polyakov loop. This mechanism is particularly efficient around Tc where the Polyakov loop effective potential is flat and the determinant can have a significant ordering effect. Our picture suggests that for the description of QCD in large magnetic fields it is crucial to properly capture the interaction between the Polyakov loop and the sea quarks, both in low-energy effective models and on the lattice.