Quark number holonomy and confinement-deconfinement transition

Abstract: We propose a new quantity which describes the confinement-deconfinement transition based on topological properties of QCD. The quantity which we call the quark number holonomy is defined as the integral of the quark number susceptibility along the closed loop of $\theta$ where $\theta$ is the dimensionless imaginary chemical potential. Expected behavior of the quark number holonomy at finite temperature is discussed and its asymptotic behaviors are shown.