Dynamics of the deconfinement transition of quarks and gluons in a finite volume Original Research Article

We employ finite elements methods for the approximation of solutions of the Ginzburg–Landau equations describing the deconfinement transition in quantum chromodynamics. These methods seem appropriate for situations where the deconfining transition occurs over a finite volume as in relativistic heavy ion collisions, where in addition expansion of the system and flow of matter are important. Simulation results employing finite elements are presented for a Ginzburg–Landau equation based on a model free energy describing the deconfining transition in pure gauge image theory. Results for finite and infinite system are compared.