Finite-Temperature Study of Eight-Flavor SU(3) Gauge Theory

We present new lattice investigations of finite-temperature transitions for SU(3) gauge theory with N_f = 8 light flavors. Using nHYP-smeared staggered fermions we are able to explore renormalized couplings g² ≲ 20 on lattice volumes as large as 48³ × 24. Finite-temperature transitions at non-zero fermion mass do not persist in the chiral limit, instead running into a strongly coupled lattice phase as the mass decreases. That is, finite-temperature studies with this lattice action require even larger N_T > 24 to directly confirm spontaneous chiral symmetry breaking.