Detecting Dual Superconductivity in the Ground State of Gauge Theory

TL;DR

This paper introduces a monopole creation operator as an order parameter for detecting dual superconductivity in gauge theories, with potential applications to understanding the QCD vacuum.

Contribution

The authors explicitly construct a monopole creation operator that signals dual superconductivity and demonstrate its effectiveness through numerical simulations in compact U(1) gauge theory.

Findings

The monopole creation operator's vacuum expectation value indicates dual superconductivity.

Numerical tests confirm the operator's ability to detect monopole condensation.

The method can be applied to study the QCD vacuum's dual superconductivity.

Abstract

We explicitly construct a monopole creation operator: its vacuum expectation value is an order parameter for dual superconductivity, in that, if different from zero, it signals a spontaneous breaking of the $U(1)$ symmetry corresponding to monopole charge conservation. This operator is tested by numerical simulations in compact $U(1)$ gauge theory. Our construction provides a general recipe for detection of the condensation of any topological soliton. In particular our operator can be used to detect dual superconductivity of the QCD vacuum.