Discontinuity Theorem for First Order Phase Transitions. Implications for QCD

Abstract

A first order phase transition leading to deconfinement and chiral restoration is a likely possibility for QCD, at least in some region of the temperature-density plane. A signal for a unique transition is that the order parameters for such transitions (which can be understood in terms of symmetries only in limiting situations of very massive or massless quarks) are both discontinuous at the same critical temperature. We show that such a situation can be understood on a precise thermodynamical basis because of a general relation among discontinuities which holds for first order transitions. We derive the result by a generalization of the Clausius-Clapeyron equation and also through the effective action formalism. We illustrate the theorem in an elementary example.