Related papers: Confinement in large N gauge theories
We argue that the confined and deconfined phases in gauge theories are connected by a partially deconfined phase (i.e. SU(M) in SU(N), where M<N, is deconfined), which can be stable or unstable depending on the details of the theory. When…
Phases of SU(N) gauge theories in which the global Z(N) symmetry breaks spontaneously to a subgroup Z(L) can be realized by adding appropriate Wilson line terms to the gauge action. These phases are partially confining, in the sense that…
We study the spectrum of the confining strings in four-dimensional SU(N) gauge theories. We compute, for the SU(4) and SU(6) gauge theories formulated on a lattice, the string tensions sigma_k related to sources with Z_N charge k, using…
We extend the duality between massive and topologically massive antisymmetric tensor gauge theories in arbitrary space-time dimensions to include topological defects. We show explicitly that the condensation of these defects leads, in 4…
Effective string theory describes the physics of long confining strings in theories, like Yang-Mills theory, where the mass gap $M_{gap}^2$ is of the same order as the string tension $T$. In $2+1$ dimensions, there is a class of confining…
We compare the predictions of the effective string description of confinement with a set of Montecarlo data for the 3d gauge Ising model at finite temperature. Thanks to a new algorithm which makes use of the dual symmetry of the model we…
We perform a high precision measurement of the static $q\bar{q}$ potential in three-dimensional SU($N$) gauge theory with $N=2,3$ and compare the results to the potential obtained from the effective string theory. In particular, we show…
We consider the phenomenological implications of a class of compactified string theories which naturally reproduces the flavour multiplet structure of the Standard Model. The implications for gauge unification depends on which of three…
We compare the mass spectra and string tensions of SU(2), SU(3) and SU(4) gauge theories in 2+1 dimensions. We find that the ratios of masses are, to a first approximation, independent of N and that the remaining dependence can be…
The subleading term of the heavy quark potential (the analogue of the Luscher term) is computed in a string model for the case of three quarks. It turns out to be positive in 2+1 dimensions, making the potential non-concave as a function of…
We calculate the low-lying spectra of glueballs and confining flux tubes in the U(1) lattice gauge theory in 2+1 dimensions. We see that up to modest lattice spacing corrections, the glueball states are consistent with being multiparticle…
We study the nature of the QCD vacuum at general number of flavors $N_F$ by numerical simulations on the lattice. Combining the results with those of the perturbation theory, we propose the following picture: 1) For $N_F \ge 17$, there…
A non-perturbative confinement mechanism has been proposed to explain the fate of the unbroken gauge group on the world-volume of annihilating D-brane-anti-D-brane pairs. In this paper, we examine this phenomenon closely from several…
It was recently pointed out that simple scaling properties of Polyakov correlation functions of gauge systems in the confining phase suggest that the ratios of k-string tensions in the low temperature region is constant up to terms of order…
In this letter a new class of twisted strings is presented, with an asymmetry between the holomorphic and antiholomorphic sectors parametrized by an integer $N$. Their physical content is given by the massless resonances of the closed…
We study the single site lattice gauge theory of SU(N) coupled to one Dirac flavor of fermion in the adjoint representation. We utilize M\"obius fermions for this study, and accelerate the calculation with graphics processing units (GPUs).…
We consider whether the 1/N corrections to k-string tensions must begin at order 1/N^2, as in the Sine Law, or whether odd powers of 1/N, as in Casimir Scaling, are also acceptable. The issue is important because different models of…
A static string in an AdS Schwarzschild space is dual to a heavy quark anti-quark pair in a gauge theory at high temperature. This space is non confining in the sense that the energy is finite for infinite quark anti-quark separation. We…
We review arguments that supersymmetric QCD with $N$ colors and $N_f \ge 0$ massive quarks confines. We explain that this remains the case for small soft breakings and small supersymmetric masses for any quarks. These results continue to…
We study a one-dimensional large-N U(N) gauge theory on a circle as a toy model of higher dimensional Yang-Mills theories at finite temperature. To investigate the profile of the thermodynamical potential in this model, we evaluate a…