Understanding Confinement From Deconfinement

TL;DR

This paper employs an effective magnetic SU(N) gauge theory to analyze non-perturbative magnetic properties of the deconfined phase in SU(N) Yang-Mills theory, revealing area law behavior of spatial Wilson loops and matching lattice results.

Contribution

It introduces a novel effective magnetic gauge theory approach to study deconfined phase magnetic properties and reproduces lattice string tensions using parameters from the confined phase.

Findings

Spatial Wilson loops exhibit area law behavior.

SU(3) spatial string tensions match lattice data in 1.5T_c to 2.5T_c range.

Effective theory provides a framework for analyzing heavy ion collision experiments.

Abstract

We use effective magnetic SU(N) pure gauge theory with cutoff M and fixed gauge coupling g_m to calculate non-perturbative magnetic properties of the deconfined phase of SU(N) Yang-Mills theory. We obtain the response to an external closed loop of electric current by reinterpreting and regulating the calculation of the one loop effective potential in Yang-Mills theory. This effective potential gives rise to a color magnetic charge density, the counterpart in the deconfined phase of color magnetic currents introduced in effective dual superconductor theories of the confined phase via magnetically charged Higgs fields. The resulting spatial Wilson loop has area law behavior. Using values of M and g_m determined in the confined phase, we find SU(3) spatial string tensions compatible with lattice simulations in the temperature interval 1.5T_c < T < 2.5T_c. Use of the effective theory to analyze experiments on heavy ion collisions will provide applications and further tests of these ideas.