Calculation of temperature-dependent hadronic correlation functions of pseudoscalar and vector currents

Abstract

We make use of the Nambu--Jona-Lasinio (NJL) formalism and real-time finite-temperature field theory to calculate hadronic current correlation functions in the deconfined phase of quantum chromodynamics (QCD). Here, we consider both pseudoscalar and vector currents. Since the method used in the lattice analysis to calculate the spectral functions requires assumptions about the likelihood of a particular form for the spectral function, we believe our calculations will be useful to researchers who wish to calculate hadronic current correlation functions at finite temperature using lattice-based methods. Our model makes use of temperature-dependent coupling constants for the NJL model. We present various arguments that such temperature dependence is necessary, if the results of the model are to be consistent with what is known concerning QCD thermodynamics.