Finite N corrections to white hot string bits

Abstract

String bit systems exhibit a Hagedorn transition in the $N\to\infty$ limit. However, there is no phase transition when $N$ is finite (but still large). We calculate two-loop, finite $N$ corrections to the partition function in the low temperature regime. The Haar measure in the singlet-restricted partition function contributes pieces to loop corrections that diverge as $\mathcal{O}(N)$ when summed over the mode numbers. We study how these divergent pieces cancel each other out when combined. The properly normalized two loop corrections vanish as $\mathcal{O}(N^{-1})$ for all temperatures below the Hagedorn temperature. The coefficient of this $1/N$ dependence decreases with temperature and diverges at the Hagedorn pole.