The Width of the Confining String in Yang-Mills Theory

TL;DR

This paper uses Monte Carlo simulations to study the transverse fluctuations of the confining string in (2+1)-d SU(2) Yang-Mills theory, revealing a logarithmic increase in string width with quark separation.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed numerical analysis of string width in this theory, confirming the logarithmic growth and matching it with analytical higher order corrections.

Findings

String width increases logarithmically with quark separation.

Universal higher order corrections accurately fit the numerical data.

Efficient multi-level algorithm enables extraction of weak signals.

Abstract

We investigate the transverse fluctuations of the confining string connecting two static quarks in (2+1)-d SU(2) Yang-Mills theory using Monte Carlo calculations. The exponentially suppressed signal is extracted from the large noise by a very efficient multi-level algorithm. The resulting width of the string increases logarithmically with the distance between the static quark charges. Corrections at intermediate distances due to universal higher order terms in the effective string action are calculated analytically. They accurately fit the numerical data.