Magnetic Yang-Mills Theory as an Effective Field Theory of the Gluon Plasma

TL;DR

This paper introduces a magnetic SU(N) gauge theory as an effective model for the nonperturbative magnetic behavior of the quark-gluon plasma in the deconfined phase, providing new insights into its magnetic properties.

Contribution

It proposes a novel effective magnetic SU(N) Yang-Mills theory to describe the magnetic response of the deconfined phase of Yang-Mills theory, applicable at certain temperature ranges.

Findings

Magnetic energy profiles around Wilson loops resemble electric flux tubes in confinement.

Calculations indicate the plasma behaves like a fluid of magnetically charged objects.

The theory matches properties observed in heavy ion experiments.

Abstract

We propose magnetic SU(N) pure gauge theory as an effective field theory describing the long distance nonperturbative magnetic response of the deconfined phase of Yang-Mills theory. The magnetic non-Abelian Lagrangian, unlike that of electrodynamics where there is exact electromagnetic duality, is not known explicitly, but here we regard the magnetic SU(N) Yang-Mills Lagrangian as the leading term in the long distance effective gauge theory of the plasma phase. In this treatment, which is applicable for a range of temperatures in the interval T_c < T < 3 T_c accessible in heavy ion experiments, formation of the magnetic energy profile around a spatial Wilson loop in the deconfined phase parallels the formation of an electric flux tube in the confined phase. We use the effective theory to calculate spatial Wilson loops and the magnetic charge density induced in the plasma by the corresponding color electric current loops. These calculations suggest that the deconfined phase of Yang-Mills theory has the properties of a closely-packed fluid of magnetically charged composite objects.