In this paper, the thermodynamic properties of [Formula: see text] supersymmetric Yang–Mills theory with an arbitrary gauge group are investigated. In the confined range, we show that identifying the bound state spectrum with a Hagedorn one coming from noncritical closed superstring theory leads to a prediction for the value of the deconfining temperature [Formula: see text] that agrees with recent lattice data. The deconfined phase is studied by resorting to a [Formula: see text]-matrix formulation of statistical mechanics in which the medium under study is seen as a gas of quasigluons and quasigluinos interacting nonperturbatively. Emphasis is put on the temperature range (1–5) [Formula: see text], where the interactions are expected to be strong enough to generate bound states. Binary bound states of gluons and gluinos are indeed found to be bound up to 1.4 [Formula: see text] for any gauge group. The equation of state is then computed numerically for [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text], and discussed in the case of an arbitrary gauge group. It is found to be nearly independent of the gauge group and very close to that of nonsupersymmetric Yang–Mills when normalized to the Stefan–Boltzmann pressure and expressed as a function of [Formula: see text].
FERMIONS IN THE BACKGROUND OF DILATONIC SPHALERONS
