Related papers: Confining vacua and Q-state Potts models with Q<1
We propose to use the different kinds of vacua of the gauge theories coupled to matter as a laboratory to test confinement ideas of pure Yang-Mills theories. In particular, the very poor overlap of the Wilson loop with the broken string…
First, we give a gauge-independent definition of chromomagnetic monopoles in $SU(N)$ Yang-Mills theory which is derived through a non-Abelian Stokes theorem for the Wilson loop operator. Then we discuss how such magnetic monopoles can give…
Magnetic excitations play a crucial role in understanding the color confinement of $4$d Yang-Mills theory, and we have the monopole and the center vortex as plausible candidates to explain its mechanism. Under suitable compactified setups…
The confining mechanisms of 't Hooft and Mandelstam have a simple microscopic realization in 3D Z2 gauge theory: the center vortex and the magnetic monopole condensation are associated, in the set of configurations contributing to the…
There are two distinct regimes of Yang-Mills theory where we can demonstrate confinement, the existence of a mass gap, and fractional theta angle dependence using a reliable semi-classical calculation. The two regimes are Yang-Mills theory…
The vortex picture of confinement is studied. The deconfinement phase transition is explained as a transition from a phase in which vortices percolate to a phase of small vortices. Lattice results are presented in support of this scenario.…
We give a gauge-invariant definition of the vortex surface in SU(N) Yang-Mills theory without using the gauge fixing procedure. In this construction, gauge-invariant magnetic monopoles with fractional magnetic charges emerge in the boundary…
In this lecture I will explain the established pictures of the QCD vacuum and, in particular, the underlying confinement mechanism. These are: the magnetic monopole condensation (dual Mei\ss ner effect), the center vortex picture and the…
We argue that in the infrared regime of continuum Yang-Mills theory, the possibility of a mass gap in the charged sector is closely associated with the center vortex sector. The analysis of the possible consequences of the ensembles of…
Ensembles of magnetic defects represent quantum variables that have been detected and extensively explored in lattice ${\rm SU}(N)$ pure Yang-Mills theory. They successfully explain many properties of confinement and are strongly believed…
We study the vacuum structure and dyon spectrum of N=2 supersymmetric gauge theory in four dimensions, with gauge group SU(2). The theory turns out to have remarkably rich and physical properties which can nonetheless be described…
Confinement in non-Abelian gauge theories is commonly ascribed to percolation of magnetic monopoles, or strings in the vacuum. At the deconfinement phase transition the condensed magnetic degrees of freedom are released into gluon plasma as…
The condensation of monopoles (dual superconductivity) of QCD vacuum is reviewed. Direct evidence is produced that the system, in the confined phase, is a dual superconductor.
There are three types of monopole in gauge theories with fundamental matter and N=2 supersymmetry broken by a superpotential. There are unconfined 0-monopoles and also 1 and 2-monopoles confined respectively by one or two vortices…
Recent lattice calculations performed at zero temperature and in the maximal center gauge indicate that quark confinement can be understood in this gauge as due to fluctuations in the number of magnetic vortices piercing a given Wilson…
We construct an anomaly-preserving compactification of 4d gauge theories, including $SU(N)$ Yang-Mills theory, $\mathcal{N}=1$ supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory, and QCD, down to 2d by turning on 't Hooft flux through $T^2$. It provides a…
An effective monopole action is derived from vacuum configurations after abelian projection in the maximally abelian gauge in $SU(2)$ QCD. Entropy dominance over energy of monopole loops is seen on the renormalized lattice with the spacing…
Lattice calculations performed in Abelian gauges give strong evidence that confinement is realized as a dual Meissner effect, implying that the Yang-Mills vacuum consists of a condensate of magnetic monopoles. Alternative lattice…
There has been substantial progress in understanding a class of SU(N) gauge theories that are confining at high temperatures. This class includes theories with center-symmetric Polyakov loop deformations or with periodic adjoint fermions.…
Characterizing the vacuum of a thermalized SU(3) Yang-Mills theory in the dual Ginzburg-Landau description, the possibility of topologically nontrivial, classical monopole fields in the deconfining phase is explored. These fields are…