Eur. Phys. J. C (2009) 63: 443-460
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjc/s10052-009-1098-8

Regular Article - Theoretical Physics

Finite-size scaling behavior in the O(4) model

¹ TRIUMF, 4004 Wesbrook Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 2A3, Canada
² Technische Universität München, James-Franck-Strasse 1, 85747, Garching, Germany

^* e-mail: braun@triumf.ca

Received: 4 March 2009
Revised: 11 May 2009
Published online: 31 July 2009

Abstract

The exact nature of the QCD phase transition has still not been determined conclusively, and there are contradictory results from lattice QCD simulations about the scaling behavior for two quark flavors. Ultimately, this issue can be resolved only by a careful scaling and finite-size scaling analysis of the lattice results. We use a renormalization group approach to obtain finite-size scaling functions for the O(4) model, which are relevant for this analysis. Our results are applicable to lattice QCD studies of the QCD phase boundary.