Monopoles and vortices in pure gauge theories and in Higgs theories

TL;DR

This paper introduces smeared Abelian and center gauges in lattice gauge theories, establishing their equivalence to Higgs theories, enabling the study of monopoles and vortices responsible for confinement via classical solutions.

Contribution

It presents a novel approach to analyze monopoles and vortices by connecting gauge fixing methods to Higgs theories, offering new insights into confinement mechanisms.

Findings

Smeared gauges are limits of popular Abelian and center gauges.

Smeared gauges are equivalent to Higgs theories.

Monopole and vortex distributions can be studied through classical Higgs solutions.

Abstract

Smeared Abelian and center gauges are introduced in pure non-Abelian lattice gauge theories. Popular Abelian and center gauges are limits of smeared gauges. Smeared gauges are also shown to be equivalent to Higgs theories. As a result, distributions and interactions of monopoles and vortices, which are objects responsible for confinement in pure gauge theories, can be studied by investigating classical solutions of Higgs theories.