Related papers: Monopole-center vortex chains in $SU(2)$ gauge the…
We study the heavy quark potential in the SU(2) positive plaquette model using monopoles in the maximum abelian gauge, and vortices. Monopoles give a quantitative description of the string tension. Vortices approximately reproduce the…
Further evidence is presented for the existence of a non-confining phase at weak coupling in SU(2) lattice gauge theory. Using Monte Carlo simulations with the standard Wilson action, gauge-invariant SO(3)-Z2 monopoles, which are…
We study the action and geometry of P-vortices, discriminating between the percolating and finite clusters. We also discuss the interrelation of the monopoles and P-vortices. To define P-vortices we use both the direct maximal center…
We study the role of large clusters of center vortices in producing confinement in 3D Z(2) gauge theory. First, we modify each configuration of a Monte Carlo-generated ensemble in the confined phase by removing the largest cluster of center…
We describe a new order parameter for the confinement-deconfinement transition in lattice SU(2) Yang-Mills theory. It is expressed in terms of magnetic monopole field correlators represented as sums over sheets of center vortices. Our…
The magnetic monopole in euclidean pure SU(2) gauge theory is investigated using a background field method on the lattice. With Monte Carlo methods we study the mass of the monopole in the full quantum theory. The monopole background under…
We consider static axially symmetric solutions of SU(2) Yang-Mills-Higgs theory. The simplest such solutions represent monopoles, multimonopoles and monopole-antimonopole pairs. In general such solutions are characterized by two integers,…
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…
We study monopoles and vortices in SU(2) lattice gauge theory on a 24**4 lattice at beta=2.50. We find a value of fundamental string tension from monopoles in the maximum Abelian gauge consistent with the full SU(2) value. Using direct and…
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…
We present a variety of numerical data supporting the Center Vortex theory of confinement. A method is introduced for identifying the location of center vortices, in thermalized gauge-field configurations generated by lattice Monte Carlo.…
Vortices in the SU(2)--Higgs model: The presence of a fundamental Higgs in the SU(N)-Higgs model yields color screening at some finite distance. Whereas the transition to the Higgs "phase" is accompanied by a suppression of projected center…
To help understand the centre dominance picture of confinement, we look at Wilson loop distributions in pure SU(2) lattice gauge theory. A strong coupling approximation for the distribution is developed to use for comparisons. We perform a…
A gauge invariant procedure for extracting combined SO(3)-Z2 monopoles in positive-plaquette SU(2) lattice gauge theory is shown. When these monopoles are eliminated through a constraint, the theory deconfines for all $\beta$ on $12^4$ and…
The vortex theory which emerges from SU(2) lattice gauge theory by center projection is briefly reviewed. In this vortex picture, quark confinement is due to percolating (closed) vortices which are randomly linked to the Wilson loop. The…
We investigate the monopole and vortex content of a meron pair by calculating the points at which the transformation to the Laplacian Center Gauge is ill-defined and by studying the behavior of Wilson loops. These techniques reveal…
The structures of confining vortices which underlie pure SU(3) Yang-Mills theory are studied by means of lattice gauge theory. Vortices and Z_3 monopoles are defined as dynamical degrees of freedom of the Z_3 gauge theory which emerges by…
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 discuss the implementation of the ``direct'' maximal center gauge (a gauge which maximizes the lattice average of the squared-modulus of the trace of link variables), and its use in identifying Z(2) center vortices in Yang-Mills vacuum…
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…