A study of 't Hooft and Wilson loops

An investigation is undertaken for 't Hooft loop operators in four-dimensional gauge theories. For the first time, a perimeter law is shown to be their behavior in weak coupling Wilson lattice (and continuum) non-abelian SU(N) gauge theories for all N. However, it is also argued that this perimeter law is poor criterion for quark confinement. Rather, it is suggested that non-leading long-distance behavior is what is crucial and relevant in distinguishing non-abelian from abelian (and hence confining from non-confining) theories. A new object, “the 't Hooft line”, is introduced to measure this non-leading behavior and is computed in strong coupling on the lattice. There, one finds magnetic screening characterized by a magnetic screening mass, m_s. It is shown to all orders in strong coupling that m_s is the glueball mass, a result which is expected to persist in weak coupling and in the continuum. Two further consequences of this work are that pure non-abelian gauge theories cannot be in a Higgs phase and that in such models that absence of massless physical particles implies confinement.Finally, non-leading behavior in Wilson loops is examined. The present picture of confinement suggests the absence of van der Waals forces in Yang-Mills theories.     

Operators with Large R-Charge in N=4 Yang-Mills Theory

It has been recently proposed that string theory in the background of a plane wave corresponds to a certain subsector of the N=4 supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory. This correspondence follows as a limit of the AdS/CFT duality. As a particular case of the AdS/CFT correspondence, it is a priori a strong-weak coupling duality. However, the predictions for the anomalous dimensions which follow from this particular limit are analytic functions of the 't Hooft coupling constant λ and have a well-defined expansion in the weak coupling regime. This allows one to conjecture that the correspondence between the strings on the plane wave background and the Yang-Mills theory works at the level of perturbative expansions. In our paper we perform perturbative computations in the Yang-Mills theory that confirm this conjecture. We calculate the anomalous dimension of the operator corresponding to the elementary string excitation. We verify at the two-loop level that the anomalous dimension has a finite limit when the R-charge J→∞ keeps λ/J² finite. We conjecture that this is true at higher orders of perturbation theory. We show, by summing an infinite subset of Feynman diagrams, under the above assumption, that the anomalous dimensions arising from the Yang-Mills perturbation theory are in agreement with the anomalous dimensions following from the string worldsheet sigma-model.     

Linked cluster expansions for U(1) lattice gauge theory in 2 + 1 and 3 + 1 dimensions

Compact U(1) lattice gauge theory is studied in 2 + 1 and 3 + 1 dimensions using strong coupling series expansions and the recently proposed exact linled cluster expansion alborithm Results for the vacuum energy, specific heat and axial string tension in 2 + 1 dimensions are in agreement with previous finite lattice estimates. In 3 + 1 dimensions, we present new strong coupling series results (order g^?40) which together with the ELCE estimates show evidence of a continuous phase transition at x = 1/g⁴ = 0.72 ± 0.08. The associated critical index for the vanishing string tension is μ = 0.65 ± 0.12. The axial string tension in D = 3 + 1 appears to undergo a non-deconfining roughening transition at smaller x (0.56 ± 0.07).     

Hadron potentials within the gauge/string correspondence

It is known, since the 70s, that the large N 't Hooft limit of gauge theories is related to string theories. In 1998, J. M. Maldacena identified precisely such a relation: the so-called AdS/CFT correspondence which speculates a duality between a large N strongly-coupled supersymmetric and conformal Yang-Mills theory in four dimensions and a weakly-coupled string theory defined in a five-dimensional anti-de Sitter AdS₅ space-time. This review aims at introducing concepts and methods used to derive, in the framework of the gauge/string correspondence, the interaction potentials of mesons and baryons at zero and finite temperature. The dual string configurations associated with the different kinds of hadrons are described and their behaviours at short and large distances are understood. Although the application of Maldacena's AdS/CFT conjecture to QCD is not straightforward, QCD being neither supersymmetric nor conformal, the AdS/QCD correspondence approach attempts to identify the dual theory of QCD. Especially, the study of heavy quark-antiquark bound-states leads to establish general dual criteria for the confinement.     

Z(N) topological excitations in Yang-Mills theories: duality and confinement

We investigate the properties of Z(N) topological excitations in Wilson's lattice formulation of SU(N) Yang-Mills theories. We exhibit the Z(N) topological excitations as exact classical solutions on the lattice. After giving detailed qualitative discussions about the Z(N) excitations and their relevance to confinement, we investigate the Z(N) lattice gauge theories with the Wilson action and show that Z(2), Z(3) and Z(4) models are self-dual systems. (The self-duality of the Z(2) case has been known previously.) This property enables us to locate the critical points exactly in those systems under the assumption that the phase transition occurs at only one point in the coupling constant space. We then derive the effective action for the Z(N) topological excitations in the lattice SU(N) Yang-Mills theories in the steepest descent approximation. The critical coupling constants in the SU(N) models corresponding to the phase transition caused by the Z(N) excitations are estimated by using the information on the Z(N) models with the Wilson action. It is quite probable that the estimated value $\text{g}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>r</mtext>}}{}^2\text{/4π}{}^2\text{～}\text{1}\text{31}$ (for SU(3)) is an upper bound. This indicates that the Wilson model of the SU(3) gauge field can be effective action of the QCD gluons which exhibit permanent quark confinement and, at the same time, freedom up to the distance characterized by the energy, at least, ～1 TeV.     

On the characterization of the higgs phase in lattice gauge theories

We consider Higgs models on a lattice in 3 or 4 dimensions. Higgs scalars are assumed to transform trivially under a finite subgroup Γ of the compact gauge groupG. We adopt 't Hooft's definition of the Higgs phase, it is characterized by a nonvanishing free energy per unit length (area) of a vortex in 3 (4) dimensions. By using a Peierls argument we show that the models are in the Higgs phase in this sense for suitable coupling constants.     

Strong coupling expansions for the string tension at finite temperature

The SU(2) euclidean lattice gauge theory is formulated at finite temperature. Previous hamiltonian derivations of the deconfining phase transition are reproduced in the euclidean formalism. Corrections to infinite coupling are calculable, and expansions for the string tension are obtained. It is shown that the string tension is always in a rough phase for any non-zero temperature. The zero in the string tension is therefore trustworthy in the strong coupling regime. Using these results and comparing them with Monte Carlo simulations yields an estimate for the critical temperature of about 230 MeV.     

Analytic approximations to hamiltonian lattice field theories: (I). Periodic gaussian model for U(1) theories

Periodic gaussian models are introduced for local and global U(1) invariant hamiltonian lattice field theories. The models coincide with standard lattice theories at weak coupling, but the leading non-perturbative contributions to wave functions and physical quantities are exactly calculable. Electric charges are confined and the mass gap is finite if correlations of an integer-valued magnetic field are of infinite range (d = 2 + 1 gauge model). Otherwise, for short-range correlations, the mass gap and the string tension vanish at weak coupling (QED, XY model, etc.)     

Renormalized finite temperature effective potential ofSU(2) Yang-Mills theory

It is shown that the renormalized finite temperature effective potential for continuumSU(2) Yang-Mills theory develops a non-perturbative minimum for sufficiently strong coupling, i.e. below a critical temperature. The corresponding phase can be the candidate for the confining phase of the continuum theory and becomes energetically favoured basicly due to the decay of theA ⁰ condensate into three gluons.     

Little heterotic strings

We discuss toroidal orbifolds of the E ₈×E ₈ heterotic string, in which the free-fermionic Higgs–matter splitting is implemented by a shift in the internal lattice coupled with the fermion numbers of the gauge degrees of freedom. We consider models in which some choices of the orbifold result in the projection of the graviton. In the models that we consider the projection also results in flipping the spin–statistics assignments in the massive string spectrum, whereas the massless spectrum retains the conventional spin–statistics assignments. We argue that the partition functions are mathematically consistent for one- and multi-loop amplitudes, owning to the existence of supersymmetry in the spectrum. A duality between different models at non-zero temperature is briefly discussed.     

Alternative scaling hypothesis forSU(2) andSU(3) lattice gauge theories

High precision data from a variety of sources forSU(2) andSU(3) Wilson action lattice gauge theory are analyzed with respect to the hypothesis of the possible existence of a zero temperature deconfining phase transition, in analogy with theU(1) theory. The internal energy, specific heat, string tension, and Wilson line, fit well to correlation length scaling laws associated with a finite order transition occurring at the weak coupling end of the crossover region for both theories. TheSU(2) theory is consistent with a correlation length exponent ν=2/3 and critical pointβ _c ≈2.47. ForSU(3) the data fit well to ν=1 andβ _c ≈6.69. Additional indirect evidence for the existence of such phase transitions is discussed, as is the possible crucial role of light dynamical fermions in the confinement mechanism.     

Confining effective theories based on instantons and merons

An effective theory based on ensembles of either regular gauge instantons or merons is shown to produce confinement in SU(2) Yang-Mills theory. When the scale is set by the string tension, the action density, topological susceptibility and low-lying glueball spectrum are similar to those arising in lattice QCD. The physical mechanism producing confinement is explained, and a number of analytical insights into the effective theory are presented.     

Hadron mass calculations with Susskind and Wilson fermions in the fundamental-adjoint plane

We report the results of hadron mass calculations in the valence (quenched) approximation, on an 8³ × 16 lattice. For Wilson fermions with the standard Wilson action we find good agreement with results form the hopping parameter expansion on a 16⁴ lattice at β = 5.7, with only a small finite size effect in the anticipated direction. The proton-to-rho mass ration is however too high by 60% and the delta-proton mass difference is too small. We have repeated these calculations at two points of the same string tension in the plane of the fundamental and adjoint couplings, in an attempt to avoid the unphysical critical point there; within statistical errors the meson masses remain the same, there is an improvement in the delta-proton splitting and the proton mass decreases slightly, but not enough to produce agreement with experiment. The estimates of lines of constant string tension obtained as a preliminary to the mass calculation are in good agreement with weak coupling expansions at the larger β values and cross over towards strong coupling predictions around β = 5.7. Also, crude estimates reveal the disappearance of the specific heat peak as one moves away from the unphysical singularity. For Susskind fermions we find some measure of agreement with other results form a 10³ × 16 lattice, but large, apparently finite size, effects in the rho mass at low quark mass. Meson masses in lattice units disagree with the Wilson fermion results by as much as a factor of 2. This disagreement persists in the fundamental-adjoint plane, suggesting the importance of studying improved fermion actions. At β = 6.0, Wilson fermion results show clear finite size effects on the 8³ × 16 lattice.     

Monte Carlo meets the fishnet: String formation in a gas of Feynman diagrams

It is likely that the quark confinement mechanism at large N should be understood purely in terms of high-order planar Feynman diagrams; in particular, the center of the gauge group can play no role whatever. With this motivation I consider the diagrammatic expansion of loop integrals 〈PTr exp(g∫ø)〉 in planar wrong-sign ø⁴ theory. It is shown that the sum of all fishnet diagrams contributing to the loop can be expressed as the grand partition function of an unusual gas, whose dynamics can be simulated on a computer. The “molecules” of this gas correspond to vertices of the position-space diagrams, the molecular interactions are determined by the propagators, and the coupling constant plays the role of a chemical potential. The most remarkable feature of this gas is the existence of a critical coupling g_c, where string formation takes place. As g → g_c the fishnet vertices tend to cluster around the minimal surface of the loop, thereby forming a string. This is clearly illustrated with the help of computer graphics. The role of asymptotic freedom in bringing the coupling to the critical point, and the connection to the Polyakov string, are also discussed. In the hamiltonian formulation a new and very straightforward explanation of quark confinement is presented.     

Finite-temperature gauge theory from the transverse lattice

Numerical computations are performed and analytic bounds are obtained on the excited spectrum of glueballs in SU(inifinity) gauge theory, by transverse lattice Hamiltonian methods. We find an exponential growth of the density of states, implying a finite critical (Hagedorn) temperature. It is argued that the Nambu-Goto string model lies in a different universality class.     

Test of some current ideas in quark confinement physics by Monte Carlo computations for finite lattices

We present some new results of Monte Carlo computations for pure SU(2) Yang-Mills theory on a finite lattice. They support consistency of asymptotic freedom with quark confinement, validity of a block cell picture, and ideas based on a vortex condensation picture of quark confinement.     

Comments on Yang-Mills thermodynamics: The Hagedorn spectrum and the gluon gas pictures for a generic gauge algebra

We discuss the dependence of pure Yang-Mills equation of state on the choice of gauge algebra. In the confined phase, we generalize to an arbitrary simple gauge algebra Meyer?s proposal of modeling the Yang-Mills matter by an ideal glueball gas in which the high-lying glueball spectrum is approximated by a Hagedorn spectrum of closed-bosonic-string type. Such a formalism is undefined above the Hagedorn temperature, corresponding to the phase transition toward a deconfined state of matter in which gluons are the relevant degrees of freedom. Under the assumption that the renormalization scale of the running coupling is gauge-algebra independent, we discuss about how the behavior of thermodynamical quantities such as the trace anomaly should depend on the gauge algebra in both the confined and deconfined phase. The obtained results compare favorably with recent and accurate lattice data in the su(3) case and support the idea that the more the gauge algebra has generators, the more the phase transition is of first-order type.     

Physical mechanism of the (tri)critical point generation

We discuss some ideas resulting from a phenomenological relation recently declared between the tension of string connecting the static quark-antiquark pair and surface tension of corresponding cylindrical bag. This relation analysis leads to the temperature of vanishing surface tension coefficient of the QGP bags at zero baryonic charge density as T _?? = 152.9 ± 4.5 MeV. We develop the view point that this temperature value is not a fortuitous coincidence with the temperature of (partial) chiral symmetry restoration as seen in the lattice QCD simulations. Besides, we argue that T _?? defines the QCD (tri)critical endpoint temperature and claim that a negative value of surface tension coefficient recently discovered is not a sole result but is quite familiar for ordinary liquids at the supercritical temperatures.     

Estimates of critical lengths and critical temperatures for classical and quantum lattice systems

Local Ward identities are derived which lead to the mean-field upper bound for the critical temperature for certain multicomponent classical lattice systems (improving by a factor of two an estimate of Brascamp-Lieb). We develop a method for accurately estimating lattice Green's functionsI _d yielding 0.3069<I ₄<0.3111 and the global bounds (d?1/2)^?<I _d <(d?1)^? for alld?4. The estimate forI _d implies the existence of a critical length for classical lattice systems with fixed length spins. Forv-component spins with fixed lengthb on the lattice ? ^d ,v=1, 2, 3, 4, the critical temperature for spontaneous magnetization satisfies $$\frac{{2Jb^2 }}{k}\frac{{d - 1}}{v}< T{}_c \leqslant \frac{{2Jb^2 }}{k}\frac{d}{v} for d \geqslant 4$$ ford4 Using GHS or generalized Griffiths' inequalities, we find that the upper bounds on the critical temperature extend to certain classical and quantum systems with unbounded spins. Absence of symmetry breakdown at high temperature for quantum lattice fields follows from bounding the energy density by a multiple ofkT. Path space techniques for finite degrees of freedom show that the high-temperature limit is classical.     

Gauge field theories on a lattice

We begin a rigorous, nonperturbative investigation of quantum field theories with local internal symmetries. We discuss the lattice approximation of Yang-Mills fields and of fermion fields in the Euclidean setup and we verify physical positivity for the Schwinger functions of these approximations. This implies the existence of a positive self-adjoint transfer matrix. We then prove existence and analyticity of the infinite volume limit of strongly coupled Yang-Mills theories on the lattice and we verify Wilson's confinement bound. Finally we present a rigorous treatment of the Higgs mechanism in lattice gauge theories.