Novel first-order phase transition and critical points in SU(3) Yang-Mills theory with spatial compactification

Fujii, Daisuke; Iwanaka, Akihiro*; Kitazawa, Masakiyo*; Suenaga, Daiki*

We investigate the thermodynamics and phase structure of Yang-Mills theory on in Euclidean spacetime in an effective-model approach. The model incorporates two Polyakov loops along two compactified directions as dynamical variables, and is constructed to reproduce thermodynamics on measured on the lattice. The model analysis indicates the existence of a novel first-order phase transition on in the deconfined phase, which terminates at critical points that should belong to the two-dimensional universality class. We argue that the interplay of the Polyakov loops induced by their cross term in the Polyakov-loop potential is responsible for the manifestation of the first-order transition.