Derivative Expansion Of The Heat Kernel At Finite Temperature
February 14, 2012 - Moral-Gamez, F. J.; Salcedo, L. L.
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EmailJournal or Book Title: PHYSICAL REVIEW D
Volume/Issue: 85
Year Published: 2012
The method of covariant symbols of Pletnev and Banin is extended to space-times with topology R-n x S-1 X center dot center dot center dot X S-1. By means of this tool, we obtain explicit formulas for the diagonal matrix elements and the trace of the heat kernel at finite temperature to fourth order in a strict covariant derivative expansion. The role of the Polyakov loop is emphasized. Chan's formula for the effective action to one-loop is similarly extended. The expressions obtained apply formally to a larger class of spaces, h-spaces, with an arbitrary weight function h(p) in the integration over the momentum of the loop.
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevD.85.045019
Type of Publication: Article