Finite-size study of the finite-temperature chiral phase transition in QCD with light quarks

Abstract

Finite-size tests were carried out for the finite-temperature chiral phase transition in QCD on a lattice with 4 times slices usign the Kogut-Susskind quark action at the quark mass of 0.025 ( N f = 4 and 2) and 0.0125 ( N f = 2) in lattice units. For N f = 4, all the evidence supports a supports a first-order transition. for N f = 2, however, the data up to a 12 3 spatial lattice do not yield finite-size signatures for a first-order transition of these quark masses.