Confinement–deconfinement phase transition in hot and dense QCD at large N Original Research Article

We conjecture that the confinement–deconfinement phase transition in QCD at large number of colors N and Nf≪N at T≠0 and μ≠0 is triggered by the drastic change in θ behavior. The conjecture is motivated by the holographic model of QCD where confinement–deconfinement phase transition indeed happens precisely at the value of temperature T=Tc where θ dependence experiences a sudden change in behavior [A. Parnachev, A. Zhitnitsky, arXiv: 0806.1736 [hep-ph]]. The conjecture is also supported by quantum field theory arguments when the instanton calculations (which trigger the θ dependence) are under complete theoretical control for T>Tc, suddenly break down immediately below T