Abstract

The pion nucleon vertex function at finite temperature is studied in the framework of: (a) the thermal (linear) sigma model to leading (one-loop) order, and (b) a thermal QCD-Finite Energy Sum Rule. Results from both methods indicate that the strength of the pion-nucleon coupling decreases with increasing T, vanishing at a critical temperature. The associated mean-square radius is a monotonically increasing function of T, diverging at the critical temperature. This is interpreted as (analytical) evidence for the quark-gluon deconfinement phase transition. © 1998 Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.