Free energy versus internal energy potential for heavy-quark systems at finite temperature

Abstract

Using the QCD sum rule with its operator product expansion reliably determined from lattice calculations for the pressure and energy density of hot QCD matter, we calculate the strength of the $J/\ensuremath{\psi}$ wave function at the origin and find that it decreases with temperature when the temperature is in the vicinity of the transition temperature. This result is shown to follow exactly that obtained from the solution of the Schr\"odinger equation for a charm and anticharm quark pair with a temperature independent quark mass using the free energy from lattice calculations as the potential and is in sharp contrast to that using the deeper potential associated with the internal energy, which shows an enhanced strength of the $J/\ensuremath{\psi}$ wave function at the origin. Our result thus suggests that the free energy potential from lattice calculations is the appropriate heavy-quark potential for analyzing the charmonium spectrum at a finite temperature.