2009/09/18 by Nabil Iqbal, Harvey B. Meyer
Physics and Astronomy · #Black Holes and Theoretical Physics #High-Energy Particle Collisions Research #Quantum Chromodynamics and Particle Interactions #hep-lat
paper · pdf · doi:10.1088/1126-6708/2009/11/029
published as JHEP 0911:029,2009 · 32 pages, 9 figures, 4 tables; added some references, more detailed captions, conclusions unchanged
arxiv created 2009/09/18 · openalex publication_date 2009/11/06 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
We numerically calculate the spatial correlators of the scalar and pseudoscalar operators F2 and F F, in SU(3) Yang-Mills theory at zero and finite-temperature on the lattice. We compare the results over the distances (1)/(2T)<r<(3)/(2T) to the free-field prediction, to the operator-product expansion as well as to the strongly coupled large-Nc \sN=4 super-Yang-Mills theory, where results are obtained by AdS/CFT methods. For Tc<T<1.15Tc, both channels exhibit stronger spatial correlations than in the vacuum, and we give an explanation for this, using sum-rules and the operator-product expansion. The AdS/CFT calculation provides a semi-quantitatively successful description of the vacuum-subtracted F2 correlator, renormalized in the 3-loop \rm MS scheme, in the interval of temperatures 1.2<T/Tc<1.9, while the free-field prediction has the wrong sign. The F F and F2 correlators are predicted to have the same functional form both at weak coupling and in the strongly coupled SYM theory. The Yang-Mills plasma does not meet that expectation below 2Tc. Instead we find that strong fluctuations of F F are present at least up to that temperature. We discuss the impact of our results on our understanding of the quark-gluon plasma.