Latent heat and critical temperature of the color-deconfining phase transition

Abstract

A Monte Carlo study is reported of pure SU(3) lattice gauge theory near the color-deconfining phase transition on lattices of size ${16}^3$×$N_T$ with $N_T$=6, 8, and 10. The critical coupling and latent heat per unit volume are deduced for this phase transition: ${\beta }_c$=5.889±0.008, 6.001±0.025, 6.16±0.007, and ΔscrE/$T_c^4$=3.61±0.28, 3.26±0.73, 3.54±1.14 for $N_T$=6, 8, 10, respectively. These errors are statistical only and do not reflect significant systematic uncertainty. For $N_T$=10 we demonstrate that the internal energy can be obtained from Wilson loops larger than the usual 1×1 plaquettes.