Comparison between the continuum threshold and the Polyakov loop as deconfinement order parameters

Abstract

We study the relation between the continuum threshold s0 within finite energy sum rules and the trace of the Polyakov loop Φ in the framework of a nonlocal SU(2) chiral quark model, establishing a contact between both deconfinement order parameters at finite temperature T and chemical potential μ. In our analysis, we also include the order parameter for the chiral symmetry restoration, the chiral quark condensate. We found that s0 and Φ provide us with the same information for the deconfinement transition, both for the zero and finite chemical potential cases. At zero density, the critical temperatures for both quantities coincide exactly and, at finite μ both order parameters provide evidence for the appearance of a quarkyonic phase.