2024/07/12 by Harshit Pandey, Ravi Shanker, Pandey, Harshit +3 · 2 citations
Mathematics · Physics and Astronomy · #Abelian group #Advanced Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics #Eigenvalues and eigenvectors #Gauge (firearms) #Gauge theory #Geography #Hamiltonian (control theory) #Hamiltonian lattice gauge theory #High-Energy Particle Collisions Research #Lattice (music) #Massless particle #Mathematical physics #Mathematics #Physics #Pure mathematics #Quantum Chromodynamics and Particle Interactions #Quantum chromodynamics #Quantum many-body systems #Quantum mechanics #Quantum, superfluid, helium dynamics #Quark #Random matrix #Renormalization group #Theoretical and Computational Physics #Theoretical physics #Thermalisation
paper · pdf · open access · doi:10.1016/j.nuclphysb.2026.117401
published in Nuclear Physics B 1025, 117401 (Elsevier BV)
openalex created_date 2024/07/16 · openalex publication_date 2026/03/18 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
We study some interesting aspects of the spectral properties of SU(3) gauge theory, both with and without dynamical quarks (QCD) at thermal equilibrium using lattice gauge theory techniques. By calculating the eigenstates of a massless overlap Dirac operator on the gauge configurations, we implement a gauge-invariant method to study spectral properties of non-Abelian gauge theories. We have unambiguously categorized Dirac eigenvalues into different regimes based on a quantity defined in terms of the ratios of nearest neighbor spacings. While majority of these eigenstates below the magnetic scale are similar to those of random matrices belonging to the Gaussian Unitary ensemble at temperatures much higher than the chiral crossover transition in QCD, a few among them start to become prominent only near the crossover. These form fractal-like clusters with the median value for their fractal dimensions hinting at the universality class of the chiral transition in QCD. We further demonstrate that momentum modes below the magnetic scale in a particular non-equilibrium state of QCD are classically chaotic and estimate an upper bound on the thermalization time ∼ 1.44 fm/c by matching this magnetic scale with that of a thermal state at ∼ 600 MeV.