Non-Abelian confinement and the dual gauge symmetry: Many faces of flavor symmetry

TL;DR

This paper reviews non-Abelian confinement in supersymmetric QCD, emphasizing the role of flavor symmetry in the formation of non-Abelian monopoles and vortices, based on exact solutions and recent theoretical developments.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive review of non-Abelian confinement mechanisms, highlighting the essential role of flavor symmetry in the existence of non-Abelian monopoles and vortices.

Findings

Flavor symmetry is crucial for non-Abelian monopoles.

Non-Abelian vortices and monopoles are connected through flavor-color-flavor separation.

Exact solutions in N=2 supersymmetric QCD support the dual superconductor picture.

Abstract

We review the physics of confinement based on non-Abelian dual superconductor picture, relying on exact solutions in N=2 supersymmetric QCD and based on the recent developments in our understanding of non-Abelian vortices and monopoles. The non-Abelian monopoles, though they are basically just the 't Hooft-Polyakov SU(2) monopoles embedded in various corners of the larger gauge group, require flavor symmetry in an essential way for their very existence. The phenomenon of flavor-color-flavor separation characterizes the multiple roles flavor symmetry plays in producing quantum-mechanical non-Abelian monopoles.