Properties of the sigma meson at finite temperature

Abstract

We study the changes of the mass and width of the sigma meson in the framework of the Linear Sigma Model at finite temperature, in the one-loop approximation. We have found that as the temperature increases, the mass of sigma shifts down. We have also analyzed the [Formula: see text]-spectral function and we observe an enhancement at the threshold which is a signature of partial restoration of chiral symmetry, also interpreted as a tendency to chiral phase transition. Additionally, we studied the width of the sigma, when the threshold enhancement takes place, for different values of the sigma mass. We found that there is a brief enlargement followed by an abrupt fall in the width as the temperature increases, which is also related with the restoration of chiral symmetry and an indication that the sigma is a bound state of two pions.