RT Journal Article T1 Order of the deconfining phase transition in pure-gauge QCD A1 Bacilieri, P. A1 Remiddi, E. A1 Todesco, G.M. A1 Bernashchi, M. A1 Cabasino, S. A1 Cabibbo, N. A1 Fernández Pérez, Luis Antonio A1 Marinari, E. A1 Paolucci, P. A1 Parisi, G. A1 Salina, G. A1 Tarancón, A. A1 Coppola, F. A1 Lombardo, M.P. A1 Simeone, E. A1 Tripiccione, R, A1 Fiorentini, G. A1 Lai, A. A1 Marchesini, P.A. A1 Marzano, F. AB We study the behavior of the string tension in the SU(3) lattice pure-gauge theory close to the deconfining critical point. We find very large correlation lengths, increasing with the lattice size. This result is strongly suggestive of a second-order phase transition, and excludes the presence of a strong first-order transition. PB American Physical Society SN 0031-9007 YR 1988 FD 1988-10-03 LK https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/60186 UL https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/60186 LA eng NO © 1988 American Physical Society. We acknowledge useful discussions with T. Banks, U. Marini Bettolo, R. Medina, S. Shenker, and A. Ukawa. DS Docta Complutense RD 1 sept 2024