Gluon quasiparticles and the Polyakov loop

A synthesis of Polyakov loop models of the deconfinement transition and quasiparticle models of gluon plasma thermodynamics leads to a class of models in which gluon quasiparticles move in a non-trivial Polyakov loop background. These models are successful candidates for explaining both critical behavior and the equation of state for the SU(3) gauge theory at temperatures above the deconfinement temperature T-c. Polyakov loops effects are most important at intermediate temperatures from T-c up to roughly 2.5T(c), while quasiparticle mass effects provide the dominant correction to blackbody behavior at higher temperatures. (C) 2004 Published by Elsevier B.V.