Quark Loop Contribution to the Gluon Damping Rate in Hot QCD

The contribution of the quark loop to the gluon damping rate at zero momentum is calculated using the effective perturbative expansion technique developed by Braaten and Pisarski. It is shown that in the temperature range accessible in the present heavy-ion experiments, the contribution of the quark loop can not be ignored. The numerical results show that the quark loop provides an apparent contribution to the gluon damping rate at temperatures of experimental interest.