EVIDENCE FOR QUANTUM CHAOS IN THE PLASMA PHASE OF QCD

We investigate the eigenvalue spectrum of the staggered Dirac matrix i n SU(3) gauge theory and in full QCD on a 6(3) x 4 lattice. As a measu re of the fluctuation properties of the eigenvalues, we study the near est-neighbor spacing distribution P(s) for various values of beta both in the confinement and in the deconfinement phase. In both phases exc ept far into the deconfinement region, the lattice data agree with the Wigner surmise of random-matrix theory which is indicative of quantum chaos. We do not find signs of a transition to Poisson regularity at the deconfinement phase transition. (C) 1998 Published by Elsevier Sci ence B.V. All rights reserved.