Center vortex model for the infrared sector of Yang-Mills theory - Topological Susceptibility

TL;DR

This paper defines a Pontryagin index for SU(2) center vortex surfaces on a lattice, enabling the calculation of topological susceptibility, which aligns with lattice Yang-Mills measurements, advancing understanding of the infrared sector.

Contribution

It introduces a lattice-based Pontryagin index for vortex surfaces and predicts topological susceptibility consistent with lattice Yang-Mills results.

Findings

Topological susceptibility matches lattice measurements.

The vortex model reproduces confinement and topological properties.

A new lattice definition of the Pontryagin index is proposed.

Abstract

A definition of the Pontryagin index for SU(2) center vortex world-surfaces composed of plaquettes on a hypercubic lattice is constructed. It is used to evaluate the topological susceptibility in a previously defined random surface model for vortices, the parameters of which have been fixed such as to reproduce the confinement properties of SU(2) Yang-Mills theory. A prediction for the topological susceptibility is obtained which is compatible with measurements of this quantity in lattice Yang-Mills theory.