A theorem concerning twisted and untwisted partition functions in and lattice gauge theories

In order to get a clue to understanding the volume-dependence of vortex free energy (which is defined as the ratio of the twisted against the untwisted partition function), we investigate the relation between vortex free energies defined on lattices of different sizes. An equality is derived through a simple calculation which equates a general linear combination of vortex free energies defined on a lattice to that on a smaller lattice. The couplings in the denominator and in the numerator however shows a discrepancy, and we argue that it vanishes in the thermodynamic limit. Comparison between our result and the work of Tomboulis is also presented. In the appendix we carefully examine the proof of quark confinement by Tomboulis and summarize its loopholes.