Topological susceptibility of SU(N) gauge theories at finite temperature

We investigate the large-N behavior of the topological susceptibility χ in four-dimensional SU(N) gauge theories at finite temperature, and in particular across the finite-temperature transition at Tc. For this purpose, we consider the lattice formulation of the SU(N) gauge theories and perform Monte Carlo simulations for N = 4,6. The results indicate that χ has a nonvanishing large-N limit for T < Tc, as at T = 0, and that the topological properties remain substantially unchanged in the low-temperature phase. On the other hand, above the deconfinement phase transition, χ shows a large suppression. The comparison between the data for N = 4 and N = 6 hints at a vanishing large-N limit for T > Tc. (author)