2026-07-072026-07-07http://salesiana.dossiersoluciones.com/handle/123456789/181613We calculate the free energy of a static quark anti-quark pair and the renormalized Polyakov loop in 2+1- and 3- flavor QCD using $16^3 \times 4$ and $16^3 \times 6$ lattices and improved staggered p4 action. We also compare the renormalized Polyakov loop with the results of our earlier studies.Talk given at XXIV International Symposium on Lattice Gauge Theory, to appear in Proceedings of ScienceHigh Energy Physics - Latticetext