Universal Properties of Chiral Simmetry Breaking

Abstract

We discuss chiral symmetry breaking critical points from the perspective of PCAC, correlation length scaling and the chiral equation of state. A scaling theory for the ratio $R_π$ of the pion to sigma masses is presented. The Goldstone character of the pion and properties of the longitudinal and transverse chiral susceptibilities determine the ratio $R_π$ which can be used to locate critical points and measure critical indices such as $δ$. We show how PCAC and correlation length scaling determine the pion mass' dependence on the chiral condensate and lead to a practical method to measure the anomalous dimension $η$. These tools are proving useful in studies of the chiral transition in lattice QED and the quark-gluon plasma transition in lattice QCD.