The persistent homology analysis is applied to the effective Polyakov-line model on a rectangular lattice to investigate the confinement–deconfinement nature. The lattice data are mapped onto the complex Polyakov-line plane without taking the spatial average and then the plane is divided into three domains. This study is based on previous studies for the clusters and the percolation properties in lattice QCD, but the mathematical method of the analyses are different. The spatial distribution of the data in the individual domain is analyzed by using the persistent homology to obtain information of the multiscale structure of center clusters. In the confined phase, the data in the three domains show the same topological tendency characterized by the birth and death times of the holes which are estimated via the filtration of the alpha complexes in the data space, but do not in the deconfined phase. By considering the configuration averaged ratio of the birth and death times of holes, we can construct the nonlocal order parameter of the confinement–deconfinement transition from the multiscale topological properties of center clusters.
Persistent homology analysis of phase transitions
