14 pages, 12 figures (24 EPS files), RevTeX4. In v2: typos corrected, discussion of systematic errors and of smearing expanded, references added. Version to appear in Phys. Rev. D
We computed potentials between static color sources from the six lowest representations of G(2) lattice gauge theory, in numerical simulations with the Wilson action on asymmetric lattices with nonperturbatively estimated values of the bare anisotropy. We present evidence for (approximate) Casimir scaling of the obtained intermediate string tensions. The agreement with the Casimir-scaling prediction improves by increasing the coupling beta in the weak-coupling region above the crossover observed in G(2) gauge theory. The result naturally fits into confinement models with magnetic disorder and vacuum domain structure, but may represent a challenge for other approaches.
We argue that the approximate ``Casimir scaling'' of the string tensions of higher-representation Wilson loops is an effect due to the finite thickness of center vortex configurations. It is shown, in the context of a simple model of the Z(2) vortex core, how vortex condensation in Yang-Mills theory can account for both Casimir scaling in intermediate size loops, and color-screening in larger loops. An implication of our model is that the deviations from exact Casimir scaling, which tend to grow with loop size, become much more pronounced as the dimensionality of the group representation incre…
We consider the Casimir effect in a gauge-invariant Hamiltonian formulation of nonabelian gauge theories in (2+1) dimensions, for an arbitrary gauge group. We show that the result is in good agreement with recent lattice simulations. We also argue that the Casimir effect may be viewed as a good probe of magnetic screening effects in (3+1)-dimensional gauge theories at high temperatures.
The vacuum of Yang-Mills theories can be imagined as a magnetically disordered medium with domain structure, with color magnetic flux in each domain quantized in units corresponding to the gauge group center. This model leads to the prediction of Casimir scaling, i.e. the proportionality of string tensions of potentials (at intermediate distances) between color sources from higher-representations to eigenvalues of the quadratic Casimir operator. I present evidence for Casimir scaling in G(2) lattice gauge theory. I also discuss support for some ingredients of the model from the recently conjec…
We compute the full ${\cal O}(α_s^4)$ and ${\cal O}(α_s^4\logα_s)$ corrections to the potential $V_R(r)$ between the static color sources, where $V_R(r)$ is defined from the Wilson loop in a general representation $R$ of a general gauge group $G$. We find a violation of the Casimir scaling of the potential, for the first time, at ${\cal O}(α_s^4)$. The effect of the Casimir scaling violation is predicted to reduce the tangent of $V_R(r)/C_R$ proportionally to specific color factors dependent on $R$. We study the sizes of the Casimir scaling violation for various $R$'s in the case $G=SU(3)$. We…
Recent accurate measurements of static potentials between sources in various representations of the gauge group SU(3) performed by G.Bali provide a crucial test of the QCD vacuum models and different approaches to confinement. The Casimir scaling of the potential observed for all measured distances implies strong suppression of higher cumulant contributions. The consequences for the instanton vacuum model and the spectrum of the QCD string are also discussed.
We perform a detailed study of the adjoint static potential in the pseudoparticle approach, which is a model for SU(2) Yang-Mills theory. We find agreement with the Casimir scaling hypothesis and there is clear evidence for string breaking. At the same time the potential in the fundamental representation is linear for large separations. Our results are in qualitative agreement with results from lattice computations.
We present numerical evidence that supports the theory of quark confinement based on center vortex condensation. We introduce a special gauge ("maximal center gauge") and center projection, suitable for identification of center vortices. Main focus is then put on the connection of vortices in center projection to "confiners" in full, unprojected gauge-field configurations. Topics briefly discussed include: the relation between vortices and monopoles, first results for SU(3), and the problem of Casimir scaling.
Recent lattice calculations have confirmed that QCD static potential for sources in different representations of the gauge group is proportional to eigenvalue of the corresponding quadratic Casimir operator with an accuracy of a few percents. We review the present theoretical status of the "Casimir scaling" phenomenon and stress its importance for analysis of nonperturbative QCD vacuum models and other field theories. It is argued that Casimir scaling strongly advocates the property of Gaussian dominance and we propose different lattice tests to improve our understanding of these phenomena.
QCD confines quarks in all representations. From lattice calculations and fat center vortices model, we discuss that the coefficient of the linear term in the potential is proportional to both casimir scaling and the number of fundamental strings.
We consider a Yang-Mills-Higgs theory with spontaneous symmetry breaking of the gauge group G -> U(1)^r -> C(G), with C(G) being the center of G. We study two vacua solutions of the theory which produce this symmetry breaking. We show that for one of these vacua, the theory in the Coulomb phase has the mass spectrum of particles and monopoles which is exactly the same as the mass spectrum of particles and solitons of two dimensional affine Toda field theory. That result holds also for N=4 Super Yang-Mills theories. On the other hand, in the Higgs phase, we show that for each of the two vacua t…
Gauge theories with gauge group $SU(N)$ and quarks belonging to arbitrary representations of $SU(N)$ form a rich landscape of QCD-like theories, whose study can shed new light on the properties of confinement. Four cases are particularly worth of interest: quarks in the fundamental representation, quarks in the 2-indice (anti)symmetric representation and quarks in the adjoint representation. The last three corresponding QCD-like theories are equivalent at large-$N$ for bosonic observables: It is the orientifold equivalence. The behavior of the lightest vector meson mass versus $N$ has been stu…
Potentials between static colour sources in eight different representations are computed in four dimensional SU(3) gauge theory. The simulations have been performed with the Wilson action on anisotropic lattices where the renormalised anisotropies have been determined non-perturbatively. After an extrapolation to the continuum limit we are able to exclude any violations of the Casimir scaling hypothesis that exceed 5% for source separations of up to 1 fm.
We conjecture that in Yang-Mills theories the ratio between the ground-state glueball mass squared and the string tension is proportional to the ratio of the eigenvalues of quadratic Casimir operators in the adjoint and the fundamental representations. The proportionality constant depends on the dimension of the space-time only, and is henceforth universal. We argue that this universality, which is supported by available lattice results, is a direct consequence of area-law confinement. In order to explain this universal behaviour, we provide three analytical arguments, based respectively on a …
We report on two recent developments in the center vortex theory of confinement: (i) the asymptotic scaling of the vortex density, as measured in Monte Carlo simulations; and (ii) an explanation of Casimir scaling and the adjoint string tension, in terms of the center vortex mechanism.
We investigate the QCD flux tubes linking static colour charges of different SU(3) representations, relevant to the understanding of confinement and of the Lund strings of Heavy Ion Collisions. The colour field densities, the Casimir scaling factors and the widths for the flux tubes of the first five different representations are computed in quenched SU(3) lattice QCD. This study is relevant to understand the mechanisms of confinement and also the flux tubes utilized in the Lund Model and in other models of Heavy Ion Collisions.
Potentials between two static sources in various representations of the SU(3) gauge group are determined on anisotropic 3+1 dimensional lattices. Strong evidence in favour of "Casimir scaling" is found.
We study Casimir scaling and renormalization properties of Polyakov loops in different irreducible representations in SU(N) gauge theories; in particular, we investigate the approach to the large-N limit, by performing lattice simulations of Yang-Mills theories with an increasing number of colors, from 2 to 6. We consider the twelve lowest irreducible representations for each gauge group, and find strong numerical evidence for nearly perfect Casimir scaling of the bare Polyakov loops in the deconfined phase. Then we discuss the temperature dependence of renormalized loops, which is found to be…
We study a Casimir-like behaviour in a "deformed QCD". We demonstrate that for the system defined on a manifold of size L the difference Delta E between the energies of a system in a non-trivial background and Minkowski space-time geometry exhibits the Casimir-like scaling Delta E \sim L^{-1}, despite the presence of a mass gap in the system, in contrast with naive expectation Delta E \sim \exp(-m L), which would normally originate from any physical massive propagating degrees of freedom consequent to conventional dispersion relations. The Casimir-like behaviour in our system comes instead fro…
We perform lattice calculations of the spatial 't Hooft k-string tensions in the deconfined phase of SU(N) gauge theories for N=2,3,4,6. These equal (up to a factor of T) the surface tensions of the domain walls between the corresponding (Euclidean) deconfined phases. For T much larger than Tc our results match on to the known perturbative result, which exhibits Casimir Scaling, being proportional to k(N-k). At lower T the coupling becomes stronger and, not surprisingly, our calculations show large deviations from the perturbative T-dependence. Despite this we find that the behaviour proportio…
By employing the multilevel algorithm in numerical Monte Carlo simulations, we evaluate the static potential in four dimensional SU(2) lattice gauge theory with no dynamical fermions, for static sources in the j=1/2,1,3/2 representations. We find data supporting the Casimir scaling hypothesis. With the same technique we show that the ratio of the logarithm of Wilson loops in the j=2 and j=1/2 representations, as a function of the area of the loops, also satisfies Casimir scaling.
We argue that screening of higher-representation color charges by gluons implies a domain structure in the vacuum state of non-abelian gauge theories, with the color magnetic flux in each domain quantized in units corresponding to the gauge group center. Casimir scaling of string tensions at intermediate distances results from random spatial variations in the color magnetic flux within each domain. The exceptional G(2) gauge group is an example rather than an exception to this picture, although for G(2) there is only one type of vacuum domain, corresponding to the single element of the gauge g…
We study the potential energy between static charges in G(2) gluodynamics in three and four dimensions. Our work is based on an efficient local hybrid Monte-Carlo algorithm and a multi-level Lüscher-Weisz algorithm with exponential error reduction to accurately measure expectation values of Wilson- and Polyakov loops. Both in three and four dimensions we show that at intermediate scales the string tensions for charges in various G(2)-representations scale with the second order Casimir. In three dimensions Casimir scaling is confirmed within one percent for charges in representations of dimensi…
We present an efficient local hybrid Monte-Carlo algorithm to investigate G(2) gluodynamics with and without Higgs field in 3 and 4 dimensions. Additionaly we implemented a modified version of the multi-level Lüscher-Weisz algorithm with exponential error reduction to measure expectation values of Wilson and Polyakov loops. In three dimensions we show that at intermediate scales the potential between static charges in the eight lowest-dimensional representations of G(2) scale with the eigenvalues of the quadratic Casimir operator. For the fundamental representations we detect string breaking f…
Potentials between static quarks and antiquarks from a few lowest representations were evaluated in numerical simulations of 4-dimensional pure G$_2$ lattice gauge theory at various couplings. The obtained potentials are linearly rising at intermediate distances and their string tensions exhibit (approximate) Casimir scaling. This result is in accordance with a model of the vacuum of non-Abelian gauge theories with a domain structure, in which the (color) magnetic flux randomly fluctuates within a domain, but the total flux in each domain is quantized in units of the gauge group center.
We compute the chromo-field distributions of static color-dipoles in the fundamental and adjoint representation of SU(Nc) in the loop-loop correlation model and find Casimir scaling in agreement with recent lattice results. Our model combines perturbative gluon exchange with the non-perturbative stochastic vacuum model which leads to confinement of the color-charges in the dipole via a string of color-fields. We compute the energy stored in the confining string and use low-energy theorems to show consistency with the static quark-antiquark potential. We generalize Meggiolaro's analytic continu…
We propose a general numerical method to study the Casimir effect in lattice gauge theories. We illustrate the method by calculating the energy density of zero-point fluctuations around two parallel wires of finite static permittivity in Abelian gauge theory in two spatial dimensions. We discuss various subtle issues related to the lattice formulation of the problem and show how they can successfully be resolved. Finally, we calculate the Casimir potential between the wires of a fixed permittivity, extrapolate our results to the limit of ideally conducting wires and demonstrate excellent agree…
We demonstrate that Casimir forces associated with zero-point fluctuations of quantum vacuum may be substantially affected by the presence of dynamical topological defects. In order to illustrate this nonperturbative effect we study the Casimir interactions between dielectric wires in a compact formulation of Abelian gauge theory in two spatial dimensions. The model possesses topological defects, instanton-like monopoles, which are known to be responsible for nonperturbative generation of a mass gap and for a linear confinement of electrically charged probes. Despite the model has no matter fi…
The string tensions of flux tubes associated with static charges in various SU(3) representations are studied within the dual Ginzburg-Landau (DGL) theory. The ratios of the string tensions between higher and fundamental representations, $d_{D} \equiv σ_{D}/σ_{F}$, are found to depend only on the Ginzburg-Landau (GL) parameter, $κ= m_χ/m_{B}$, the mass ratio between monopoles $m_χ$ and dual gauge bosons $m_B$. In the case of the Bogomol'nyi limit ($κ=1$), analytical values of $d_{D}$ are easily obtained by adopting the manifestly Weyl invariant formulation of the DGL theory, which are provided…
Compact U(1) gauge theory in 3+1 dimensions possesses the confining phase, characterized by a linear raise of the potential between particles with opposite electric charges at sufficiently large inter-particle separation. The confinement is generated by condensation of Abelian monopoles at strong gauge coupling. We study the properties of monopoles and the deconfining order parameter in zero-temperature theory in the presence of ideally conducting parallel metallic boundaries (plates) usually associated with the Casimir effect. Using first-principle numerical simulations in compact U(1) lattic…
We calculate the string tensions of $k$-strings in SU($N$) gauge theories in both 3 and 4 dimensions. In D=3+1, we find that the ratio of the $k=2$ string tension to the $k = 1$ fundamental string tension is consistent, at the $2 σ$ level, with both the M(-theory)QCD-inspired conjecture and with `Casimir scaling'. In D=2+1 we see a definite deviation from the MQCD formula, as well as a much smaller but still significant deviation from Casimir scaling. We find that in both D=2+1 and D=3+1 the high temperature spatial $k$-string tensions also satisfy approximate Casimir scaling. We point out tha…
The chromoelectric and chromomagnetic fields, created by a static gluon-quark-antiquark system, are computed in quenched SU(3) lattice QCD, in a $24^3\times 48$ lattice at $β=6.2$ and $a=0.07261(85) fm$. We compute the hybrid Wilson Loop with two spatial geometries, one with a U shape and another with an L shape. The particular cases of the two gluon glueball and quark-antiquark are also studied, and the Casimir scaling is investigated in a microscopic perspective. This microscopic study of the colour fields is relevant to understand the structure of hadrons, in particular of the hybrid excita…
A new method based on the Monte-Carlo calculation on the lattice is proposed to study the Casimir effect in the compact lattice U(1) theory with Wilson action. We have studied the standard Casimir problem with two parallel plane surfaces (mirrors) and oblique boundary conditions on those as a test of our method. Physically, this boundary conditions may appear in the problem of modelling of the thin material films interaction and are generated by additional Chern-Simons boundary term. This approach for the boundary condition generation is very suitable for the lattice formulation of the Casimir…
We perform lattice calculations of the spatial 't Hooft k-string tensions in the deconfined phase of SU(N) gauge theories for N=2,3,4,6. These equal (up to a factor of T) the surface tensions of the domain walls between the corresponding (Euclidean) deconfined phases. For T much larger than T_c our results match on to the known perturbative result, which exhibits Casimir Scaling, being proportional to k(N-k). At lower T the coupling becomes stronger and, not surprisingly, our calculations show large deviations from the perturbative T-dependence. Despite this we find that the behaviour proporti…
Based on the results published recently [J. Phys. A: Math. Theor. 50, 065201 (2017)], the universal finite-size contributions to the free energy of the square lattice Ising model on the $L\times M$ rectangle, with open boundary conditions in both directions, are calculated exactly in the finite-size scaling limit $L,M\to\infty$, $T\to T_\mathrm{c}$, with fixed temperature scaling variable $x\propto(T/T_\mathrm{c}-1)M$ and fixed aspect ratio $ρ\propto L/M$. We derive exponentially fast converging series for the related Casimir potential and Casimir force scaling functions. At the critical point…
A new method based on the Monte-Carlo calculation on the lattice is proposed to study the Casimir effect in the noncompact lattice QED. We have studied the standard Casimir problem with two parallel plane surfaces (mirrors) and oblique boundary conditions on those as a test of our method. Physically, this boundary conditions may appear in the problem of modelling of the thin material films interaction and are generated by additional Chern-Simons boundary term. This approach for the boundary condition generation is very suitable for the lattice formulation of the Casimir problem due to gauge in…
We study, for the first time, the Casimir effect in non-Abelian gauge theory using first-principle numerical simulations. Working in two spatial dimensions at zero temperature we find that closely spaced perfect chromoelectric conductors attract each other with a small anomalous scaling dimension. At large separation between the conductors, the attraction is exponentially suppressed by a new massive quantity, the Casimir mass, which is surprisingly different from the lowest glueball mass. The apparent emergence of the new massive scale may be a result of the backreaction of the vacuum to the p…
We show that the hypothesis of abelian dominance in maximal abelian gauge, which is known to work for Wilson loops in the fundamental representation, fails for Wilson loops in higher group representations. Monte Carlo simulations are performed on lattice $SU(2)$ gauge theory, in $D=3$ dimensions, in the maximal abelian gauge, in the confined phase. It is well-known that Creutz ratios extracted from loops in various group representations are proportional to the quadratic Casimir of each representation, in a distance interval from the confinement scale to the point where color screening sets in.…
We show that the Casimir effect may lead to a deconfinement phase transition induced by the presence of boundaries in confining gauge theories. Using first-principle numerical simulations we demonstrate this phenomenon in the simplest case of the compact lattice electrodynamics in two spatial dimensions. We find that the critical temperature of the deconfinement transition in the vacuum between two parallel dielectric/metallic wires is a monotonically increasing function of the separation between the wires. At infinite separation the wires do not affect the critical temperature while at small …
We discuss a method that allows to compute the thermodynamic Casimir force at a given temperature in lattice models by performing a single Monte Carlo simulation. It is analogous to the one used by de Forcrand and Noth and de Forcrand, Lucini and Vettorazzo in the study of 't Hooft loops and the interface tension in SU(N) lattice gauge models in four dimensions. We test the method at the example of thin films in the XY universality class. In particular we simulate the improved two-component phi^4 model on the simple cubic lattice. This allows us to compare with our previous study, where we hav…
