Topological charge density around static color sources

TL;DR

This paper investigates how static color sources affect the topological charge density in quenched QCD, revealing suppression of fluctuations near sources and within flux tubes, with implications for understanding confinement.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed analysis of topological charge density distributions around static sources in quenched QCD across different phases.

Findings

Topological fluctuations are suppressed near static sources.

Suppression occurs throughout the flux tube in the confinement phase.

The study compares topological structures in different QCD phases.

Abstract

We analyze the topological structure of quenched QCD in the presence of static color sources. Distributions of the topological charge density around static quarks and mesons are computed in both phases of QCD. We observe a suppression of topological fluctuations in the vicinity of external sources. In the confinement phase, the suppression occurs in the whole flux tube between the static quark and antiquark.