Remarks on the U(1) axial symmetry and the chiral transition in QCD at finite temperature

Abstract

We discuss the role of the U(1) axial symmetry for the scalar and pseudoscalar meson mass spectrum of QCD at finite temperature, above the chiral transition at T_c, using a chiral effective Lagrangian model, which, in addition to the usual chiral condensate, also includes a (possible) genuine U(1)_A-breaking condensate that (possibly) survives across the chiral transition. The motivations for considering this Lagrangian (and a critical comparison with other effective Lagrangian models existing in the literature) are presented. A detailed comparison between the case N_f=3 (or N_f>3) and the (remarkably different) case N_f=2 is performed. The results obtained in the case N_f=2 are also critically compared with the available lattice results.

Comments: Revised version, published in PRD; 28 pages, 1 table, 1 figure