2023/11/07 by Tamás G. Kovács, Kovacs, Tamas G. · 4 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Quantum Chromodynamics and Particle Interactions #High-Energy Particle Collisions Research #Black Holes and Theoretical Physics
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2311.04208
We propose a new way of understanding how chiral symmetry is realized in the high temperature phase of QCD. Based on the finding that a simple free instanton gas precisely describes the details of the lowest part of the spectrum of the lattice overlap Dirac operator, we propose an instanton-based random matrix model of QCD with dynamical quarks. Simulations of this model reveal that even for small quark mass the Dirac spectral density has a singularity at the origin, caused by a dilute gas of free instantons. Even though the interaction, mediated by light dynamical quarks creates small instanton-antiinstanton molecules, those do not influence the singular part of the spectrum, and this singular part is shown to dominate Banks-Casher type sums in the chiral limit. By generalizing the Banks-Casher formula for the singular spectrum, we show that in the chiral limit the chiral condensate vanishes if there are at least two massless flavors. Our model also indicates a possible way of resolving a long-standing debate, as it suggests that for two massless quark flavors the U(1)A symmetry is likely to remain broken up to arbitrarily high finite temperatures.