Bound states in the 3d Ising model and implications for QCD at finite temperature and density

Abstract

We study the spectrum of bound states of the three dimensional Ising model in the (h,beta) plane near the critical point. We show the existence of an unbinding line, defined as the boundary of the region where bound states exist. Numerical evidence suggests that this line coincides with the beta=beta_c axis. When the 3D Ising model is considered as an effective description of hot QCD at finite density, we conjecture the correspondence between the unbinding line and the line that separates the quark-gluon plasma phase from the superconducting phase. The bound states of the Ising model are conjectured to correspond to the diquarks of the latter phase of QCD.