  We represent the Polyakov loop correlator as a spectral sum of correlators of
eigenvectors of the lattice Dirac operator. This spectral representation is
studied numerically using quenched SU(3) configurations below and above the
deconfinement temperature. We analyze whether the individual Dirac eigenvector
correlators differ in the confined and deconfined phases. The decay properties
of the normalized Dirac eigenvector correlators turn out to be essentially
identical in the two phases, but the amplitudes change. This change of the
amplitudes shifts the relative contributions of the individual Dirac
eigenvector correlators and is the driving mechanism for the transition from
the confining static potential into the deconfining one.
