Pressures, energy densities and chiral condensates in SU(3) lattice gauge theory with dynamical fermions

Abstract

We consider the one-loop perturbatively corrected energy densities and pressures in 4 × 12 3 lattice simulations of QCD with four quark flavors and QCD with a realistic quark spectrum (a light isodoublet and a heavier strange quark, 2 + 1 flavor model). The four-flavor theory has a clear first-order hadronic matter/quark-gluon plasma transition. The one-loop corrections enhance the gluonic internal energy and diminish the fermionic internal energy in the vicinity of the transition. The gluonic partial pressure is negative in the vicinity of the transition although the total pressure is positive and continuous everywhere, within substantial statistical errors. Similar effects are found in the 2 + 1 flavor model, although the evidence for a first-order transition is much less compelling and the positivity of the total pressure at the transition is not clear. Simulations on 8 4 lattices are also done to make zero temperature subtractions in the energies and pressures. The data for the 2 + 1 flavor model is consistent with a scaling window appearing in the light quark chiral condensate for β = 6/ g 2 greater than 5.30.