Two-loop HTL-resummed thermodynamics for pure $\mathcal N=2$ supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory

Abstract: We compute the two-loop hard-thermal-loop (HTL) resummed thermodynamic potential of pure four-dimensional $\mathcal N=2$ supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory using regularization by dimensional reduction. Our result is gauge invariant and was renormalized using vacuum energy, gluon mass $m_d$ and quark mass $m_q$ counterterms. The thermal mass parameters are determined self-consistently and numerically from gap equations incorporating the running coupling. Based on these solutions, we numerically calculate the scaled pressure, entropy density, energy density, and trace anomaly and compare them with the results in the static perturbative limit through $\mathcal O(λ<sup>2)$. For the first three quantities, next-to-leading-order (NLO) corrections are positive and have discernible effects at small coupling, and reduce the renormalization-scale dependence at relatively large couplings. We assess $m_q$-prescription dependence by comparing these results with those obtained by setting $m_q=0$. We find that it has a substantial impact on $m_d$ and the scalar mass $m_s$ at large couplings, and it reverses the signs of the NLO corrections to the first three quantities and qualitatively alters the trace anomaly.