We derive different representations of compact QED fixed to Landau gauge by the lattice Faddeev-Popov procedure. Our analysis finds that (A)Nielsen-Olesen vortices arising from the compactness of the gauge-fixing action are {\it quenched\/}, that is, the Faddeev-Popov determinant cancels them out and they do not influence correlation functions such as the photon propagator; (B)Dirac strings are responsible for the nonzero mass pole of the photon propagator. Since in D=3+1 the photon mass undergoes a rapid drop to zero at βc, the deconfinement point, this result predicts that Dirac strings must be sufficiently dilute at β>βc. Indeed, numerical simulations reveal that the string density undergoes a rapid drop to near zero at β∼βc.
@article{arxiv.hep-lat/9305019,
title = {Compact QED in Landau Gauge: a lattice gauge fixing case study},
author = {M. I. Polikarpov and Ken Yee and M. A. Zubkov},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:hep-lat/9305019},
year = {2010}
}