Nature of the deconfining phase transition in SU(3) lattice gauge theory

Monte Carlo calculations on lattices with large spatial volume show that the SU(3) deconfining phase transition is more weakly first order than previously thought. We have studied the transition for N/sub T/ = 4 and 6 on lattices of spatial volume 16/sup 3/, 20/sup 3/, and 24/sup 3/. The 24/sup 3/ x 4 calculations show a sharp first-order phase transition, yielding a latent heat ..delta..scrE/T/sup 4/ of 2.54 +- 0.12. The 24/sup 3/ x 6 calculations suffer greater finite volume smearing, but suggest that ..delta..scrE/T/sup 4/ = 2.48 +- 0.24. Correlation lengths increase significantly near the transition, and the energy plus pressure of the ordered phase depends strongly on ..beta... .AE