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 fields, the Casimir energy depends on the value of the gauge coupling constant. We show, both analytically and numerically, that in the strong coupling regime the Abelian monopoles make the Casimir forces short-ranged. Simultaneously, their presence increases the interaction strength between the wires at short distances for certain range of values of the gauge coupling. The wires suppress monopole density in the space between them compared to the density outside the wires. In the weak coupling regime the monopoles become dilute and the Casimir potential reduces to a known theoretical result which does not depend on the gauge coupling.
The review of vacuum and matter restructuring in space-time with boundaries is presented. We consider phase properties of confining gauge theories and strongly interacting fermion systems. In particular, the chiral and deconfinement phase transitions properties in the presence of Casimir plates. We also discuss mass scale shifts in such systems and their possible dynamical and geometrical nature.
The mass and interactions of a quantum 't Hooft-Polyakov monopole are measured nonperturbatively using correlation functions in lattice Monte Carlo simulations. A method of measuring the form factors for interactions between the monopole and fundamental particles, such as the photon, is demonstrated. These quantities are potentially of experimental relevance in searches for magnetic monopoles.
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…
The Casimir effect is a quantum phenomenon rooted in the fact that vacuum fluctuations of quantum fields are affected by the presence of physical objects and boundaries. Since the energy spectrum of the vacuum fluctuations depends on distances between (and geometries of) physical bodies, the quantum vacuum exerts a small but experimentally detectable force on neutral objects. Usually, the associated Casimir energy is calculated for free or weakly coupled quantum fields. We review recent studies of the Casimir effect in field-theoretical models which mimic features of non-perturbative QCD such …
We study the confinement physics in QCD in the maximally abelian (MA) gauge using the SU(2) lattice QCD. To clarify the origin of abelian dominance for the long-range physics, we study the charged-gluon propagator in the lattice QCD, and find that the effective mass $m_{ch} \simeq 0.9 {\rm GeV}$ of the charged gluon is induced by the MA gauge fixing. In the MA gauge, there appears the global network of the monopole world-line covering the whole system, which would be identified as monopole condensation at a large scale. To prove monopole condensation, we apply the dual gauge formalism to the m…
A ``3D'' Mathematica@-generated picture of monopoles and Dirac strings in $D=2+1$ compact QED is given. In the Villain approximation, the monopole part of the partition function factorizes from the Dirac string part, which generates the photon propagator. Numerical experiments in exact compact QED confirm this result: photon mass pole $M_γ$, originally nonzero, is insensitive to monopole prohibition but almost vanishes if Dirac strings are prohibited.
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 consider full non-Abelian, Abelian and center projected lattice field configurations built up from random instanton gas configurations in the continuum. We study the instanton contribution to the $\bar{Q}Q$ force with respect to ({\it i}) instanton density dependence, ({\it ii}) Casimir scaling and ({\it iii}) whether various versions of Abelian dominance hold. We check that the dilute gas formulation for the interaction potential gives an reliable approximation only for densities small compared to the phenomenological value. We find that Casimir scaling does not hold, confirming earlier st…
We present an algorithm for simulation of $SU(2)$ lattice gauge theory under the MA gauge and first numerical results for the theory without abelian monopoles. The results support the idea that nonperturbative interaction arises between monopoles and residual abelian field and the other interactions are perturbative. It is shown that the Gribov region for the theory with the MA gauge fixed is non-connected.
The confinement mechanism in the nonperturbative QCD is studied in terms of topological excitation as QCD-monopoles and instantons. In the 't Hooft abelian gauge, QCD is reduced into an abelian gauge theory with monopoles, and the QCD vacuum can be regarded as the dual superconductor with monopole condensation, which leads to the dual Higgs mechanism. The monopole-current theory extracted from QCD is found to have essential features of confinement. We find also close relation between monopoles and instantons using the lattice QCD. In this framework, the lowest $0^{++}$ glueball (1.5 $\sim$ 1.7…
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 …
In a previous paper we found that the isospin susceptibility of the O($n$) sigma-model calculated in the standard rotator approximation differs from the next-to-next to leading order chiral perturbation theory result in terms vanishing like $1/\ell\,,$ for $\ell=L_t/L\to\infty$ and further showed that this deviation could be described by a correction to the rotator spectrum proportional to the square of the quadratic Casimir invariant. Here we confront this expectation with analytic nonperturbative results on the spectrum in 2 dimensions, by Balog and Hegedüs for $n=3,4$ and by Gromov, Kazakov…
We study the dual Wilson loop and the inter-monopole potential(the static potential between the color magnetic monopoles) in the maximally abelian gauge to clarify the dual Higgs mechanism induced by monopole condensation. There is no (color-)electric current in the monopole part, which includes the essence of the nonperturbative QCD, and hence the system can be described by the dual gauge field $B_μ$ without the singularity like the Dirac string. We find that the dual Wilson loop seems to obey the perimeter law, and the inter-monopole potential becomes Yukawa-type in the infrared region. From…
Recent progress in understanding the emergence of confinement and other nonperturbative effects in the strong interaction vacuum is reviewed. Special emphasis is placed on the role of different types of collective infrared gluonic degrees of freedom in this respect. After a survey of complementary approaches, models of the QCD vacuum based on center vortices, Abelian magnetic monopoles and topological charge lumps such as instantons, merons and calorons are examined. Both the physical mechanisms governing these models as well as recent lattice studies of the respective degrees of freedom are r…
We evaluate S_{APQCD}, the Abelian projection QCD(APQCD) action nonperturbatively on the lattice. For SU(2), we find S_{APQCD} at strong coupling is essentially the compact QED(CQED) action. At weaker coupling, we find S_{APQCD} mutates: it gains additional operators, including an exogenous NEGATIVE magnetic monopole mass shift. As a corollary, since monopoles are condensed in CQED our results prove (vicariously) that SU(2) monopoles are condensed. S_{APQCD} for SU(3) has similar behavior.
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.
We review the recent results in the physics of the magnetic monopoles in gluodynamics and a dual formulation of non-Abelian theories, relevant to the physics of the confinement. It occurs that the dual gluon is a U(1) gauge boson, despite of the fact that usual gluons are non-Abelian. The effective infrared Lagrangian for gluodynamics is suggested which leads to the Casimir scaling of the string tension for quarks in various representations. We also show that the results of the calculations in lattice gauge theories confirm our theoretical predictions.
The nonperturbative phenomena of QCD like color confinement is well described through the dual superconductor picture in the Maximally Abelian (MA) gauge. In this gauge, monopoles appear as important degrees of freedom composed by nonabelian gauge fields. We investigate the peculiar size $R_c$ of the monopole in the MA gauge, considering the theoretical similarity between spinglass and the MA gauge fixing. As for the properties at larger scale than the monopole size $R_c$, the system can be described by the dual superconductor theory with local abelian fields. At shorter distances than $R_c$, …
We consider gluodynamics in case when both color and magnetic charges are present. We discuss first short distance physics, where only the fundamental |Q|=1 monopoles introduced via the `t Hooft loop can be considered consistently. We show that at short distances the external monopoles interact as pure Abelian objects. This result can be reproduced by a Zwanziger-type Lagrangian with an Abelian dual gluon. We introduce also an effective dual gluodynamics which might be a valid approximation at distances where the monopoles |Q|=2 can be considered as point-like as well. Assuming the monopole co…
Magnetic monopoles are known to emerge as leading non-perturbative fluctuations in the lattice version of non-Abelian gauge theories in some gauges. In terms of the Dirac quantization condition, these monopoles have magnetic charge |Q_M|=2. Also, magnetic monopoles with |Q_M|=1 can be introduced on the lattice via the 't Hooft loop operator. We consider the |Q_M|=1,2 monopoles in the continuum limit of the lattice gauge theories. To substitute for the Dirac strings which cost no action on the lattice, we allow for singular gauge potentials which are absent in the standard continuum version. On…
By comparision with numerical results in the maximal Abelian projection of lattice Yang-Mills theory, it is argued that the nonperturbative dynamics of Yang Mills theory can be described by a set of fields that take their values in the coset space SU(2)/U(1). The Yang-Mills connection is parameterized in a special way to separate the dependence on the coset field. The coset field is then regarded as a collective variable, and a method to obtain its effective action is developed. It is argued that the physical excitations of the effective action may be knot solitons. A procedure to calculate th…
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…
We present results for QCD with $N_f=2$ flavors of dynamical quarks using nonperturbatively improved Wilson fermions at finite temperature on $16^3 \times 8$ and $24^3 \times 10$ lattices. We determine the transition temperature in the range of quark masses $0.6 \lesssim m_π/m_ρ\leq 0.8$. After fixing the Maximal Abelian gauge we investigate the contribution of Abelian monopoles to the Polyakov loop, Polyakov loop susceptibility and confirm Abelian and monopole dominance in full QCD.
We study the confinement physics in QCD in the maximally abelian (MA) gauge using the SU(2) lattice QCD, based on the dual-superconductor picture. In the MA gauge, off-diagonal gluon components are forced to be small, and the off-diagonal angle variable $χ_μ(s)$ tends to be random. Within the random-variable approximation for $χ_μ(s)$, we analytically prove the perimeter law of the off-diagonal gluon contribution to the Wilson loop in the MA gauge, which leads to abelian dominance on the string tension. To clarify the origin of abelian dominance for the long-range physics, we study the charged…
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.…
The Casimir Effect in (3+1)-dimensional lattice Yang-Mills theory at finite temperature: the unexpected universality of quarkiton and glueton boundary states
Topological excitations are prominent candidates for explaining nonperturbative effects in QCD like confinement. In these lectures, I cover both formal treatments and applications of topological objects. The typical phenomena like BPS bounds, topology, the semiclassical approximation and chiral fermions are introduced by virtue of kinks. Then I proceed in higher dimensions with magnetic monopoles and instantons and special emphasis on calorons. Analytical aspects are discussed and an overview over models based on these objects as well as lattice results is given.
In recent work, we derived the long-distance confining dynamics of certain QCD-like gauge theories formulated on small $S^1 \times \R^3$ based on symmetries, an index theorem, and Abelian duality. Here, we give the microscopic derivation. The solution reveals a new mechanism of confinement in QCD(adj) in the regime where we have control over both perturbative and nonperturbative aspects. In particular, consider SU(2) QCD(adj) theory with $1 \leq n_f \leq 4$ Majorana fermions, a theory which undergoes gauge symmetry breaking at small $S^1$. If the magnetic charge of the BPS monopole is normaliz…
