Related papers: k-String Tensions and Center Vortices at Large N
The classic argument by Polyakov showing that monopoles produce confinement in the Higgs phase of the Georgi-Glashow model is generalized to study the spectrum of k-strings. We find that the leading-order low-density approximation yields…
We construct a smooth gauge for the adjoint field which is free of ambiguities on the lattice. In this Laplacian Center Gauge, center vortices and monopoles appear together as local gauge defects. A numerical study of center vortices in…
The dominance of center degrees of freedom is observed in SU(3) lattice gauge theory in maximal center gauge. The full asymptotic string tension is reproduced, after center projection, by the center elements alone. When center vortices are…
Inspired by the center-vortex dominance in the infrared sector of $SU(N)$ Yang-Mills theory observed on the lattice, we propose a vacuum wave functional localized on an ensemble of correlated center vortices endowed with stiffness and…
Lattice simulations are presented showing the expectation of the fluctuation of the Wilson loop solely by elements of the center to fully reproduce the SU(3) heavy quark potential. The results are stable under smoothing, and point to thick…
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.…
Linear confinement with Casimir scaling of the string tension in confining gauge theories is a consequence of a certain property of the Polyakov loop related to random matrices. This mechanism does not depend on the details of the theories…
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…
Center projection of SU(2) lattice gauge theory allows to isolate magnetic vortices as confining configurations. The vortex density scales according to the renormalization group, implying that the vortices are physical objects rather than…
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…
We discuss the physical picture of thick vortices as the mechanism responsible for confinement at arbitrarily weak coupling in SU(2) gauge theory. By introducing appropriate variables on the lattice we distinguish between thin, thick and…
We test a variety of blocking and smearing algorithms for constructing glueball and string wave-functionals, and find some with much improved overlaps onto the lightest states. We use these algorithms to obtain improved results on the…
We study adjoint and fundamental Wilson loops in the center-vortex picture of confinement, for gauge group SU(N) with general N. There are N-1 distinct vortices, whose properties, including collective coordinates and actions, we study. In…
Suppressing monopoles and vortices by introducing large chemical potentials for them in the Wilson action for the SU(2) lattice gauge theory, we study the nature of the deconfinement phase transition on N_\sigma^3 \times N_\tau lattices for…
It is pointed out that the sine law for the k-string tension emerges as the critical threshold below which the spatial Z_N symmetry of the static baryon potential is spontaneously broken. This result applies not only to SU(N) gauge…
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…
String representations of the Wilson loop are constructed in the SU(N)-version of compact QED in three and four dimensions. This is done exactly in the case of the fundamental Wilson loop and in the large-N limit in the case of the adjoint…
We study the representations of SU(2) lattice gauge theory in terms of sums over the worldsheets of center vortices and Z2 electric strings, i.e. surfaces which open on the Wilson loop. It is shown that in contrast to center vortices the…
We study the mechanism of confinement via formation of Abrikosov-Nielsen-Olesen vortices on the Higgs branch of N=2 supersymmetric SU(2) gauge theory with massive fundamental matter. Higgs branch represents a limiting case of superconductor…
In SU(2) lattice gauge theory in maximal center gauge, we investigate the dependence of center-projected Creutz ratios and the vortex density on lattice size and the number of gauge copies. The dependence on the number of copies is rather…