Confinement and the photon propagator in 3D compact QED: a lattice study in Landau gauge at zero and finite temperature

TL;DR

This study investigates the photon propagator in 3D compact QED on the lattice, revealing non-perturbative effects like mass generation and anomalous dimensions linked to monopoles, at both zero and finite temperatures.

Contribution

It provides a detailed lattice analysis of the photon propagator in 3D compact QED, highlighting the role of monopoles and addressing the Gribov copy problem.

Findings

Photon mass and anomalous dimension are generated non-perturbatively.

Monopoles are responsible for non-perturbative effects in the propagator.

Gribov copy effects are carefully assessed.

Abstract

On the lattice we study the gauge boson propagator of three dimensional compact QED in Landau gauge at zero and non-zero temperature. The non-perturbative effects are taken into account by the generation of a mass, by an anomalous dimension and by the photon wave function renormalization. All these effects can be attributed to the monopoles: they are absent in the propagator of the singularity-free part of the gauge field. We assess carefully the Gribov copy problem for the propagator and the parameters emerging from the fits.