String-like behaviour of 4d SU(3) Yang-Mills flux tubes

TL;DR

This study investigates the structure of flux tubes in 4D SU(3) Yang-Mills theory, providing evidence that supports the Nambu-Goto string model for the static quark-antiquark potential.

Contribution

The paper offers detailed lattice measurements of the qar q potential, favoring the Nambu-Goto string model over other effective string theories.

Findings

Data supports Nambu-Goto string model for ground state energy

Measurements distinguish between different effective string models

Results are consistent across different lattice sizes

Abstract

We present here results on the fine structure of the static q\bar q potential in d=4 SU(3) Yang-Mills theory. The potential is obtained from Polyakov loop correlators having separations between 0.3 and 1.2 fermi. Measurements were carried out on lattices of spatial extents of about 4 and 5.4 fermi. The temporal extent was 5.4 fermi in both cases. The results are analyzed in terms of the force between a q\bar q pair as well as in terms of a scaled second derivative of the potential. The data is accurate enough to distinguish between different effective string models and it seems to favour the expression for ground state energy of a Nambu-Goto string.