Ab initio calculation of finite-temperature charmonium potentials

The interquark potential in charmonium states is calculated in both the zero and nonzero temperature phases from a first-principles lattice QCD calculation. Simulations with two dynamical quark flavors are used with temperatures T in the range 0.4Tc ≲ T ≲ 1.7Tc, where Tc is the deconfining temperature. The correlators of point-split operators are analyzed to gain spatial information about the charmonium states. A method introduced by the HAL QCD Collaboration and based on the Schrödinger equation is applied to obtain the interquark potential. We find a clear temperature dependence with the central potential agreeing with the Cornell potential in the confined phase and becoming flatter (more screened) as the temperature increases past the deconfining temperature. This is the first time the interquark potential has been calculated for realistic quarks at finite temperature.