The Problem of Mass: Mesonic Bound States Above Tc

Abstract

By extending the Bielefeld LGS (Lattice Gauge Simulation) color singlet interaction, we find that the masses of pi, sigma, rho and a_1 excitations, 32 degrees of freedom in all, go to zero (in the chiral limit) as T -> T_c. This result indicates a smooth phase transition at T_c, at which from above the masses and couplings of mesons vanish `a la Brown-Rho scaling. We discuss that our scenario successfully explains the STAR (STAR Collaboration) rho^0/pi^- ratio in Au-Au peripheral collisions at RHIC.

Comments: 4 pages, 2 figures, contribution to Quark Matter 2005