The pressure of the SU(N) lattice gauge theory at large N

We calculate bulk thermodynamic properties, such as the pressure, energy density, and entropy, in SU(4) and SU(8) lattice gauge theories, for the range of temperatures T <= 2.0T(c) and T <= 1.6T(c) respectively. We find that the N = 4. 8 results are very close to each other, and to what one finds in SU(3), and are far from the asymptotic free-gas value. We conclude that any explanation of the high-T pressure (or entropy) deficit must be such as to survive the N -> infinity limit. We give some examples of this constraint in action and comment on what this implies for the relevance of gravity duals. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.