Magnetic monopoles, alive

TL;DR

This paper reviews recent progress in understanding magnetic monopoles in non-Abelian gauge theories, emphasizing their physical effects, potential interactions, and dual formulations relevant to confinement, based on lattice simulations and continuum theory.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of the physical implications of magnetic monopoles in non-Abelian gauge theories, connecting lattice data with continuum understanding.

Findings

Analysis of monopole-antimonopole potential at various distances

Discussion of dual gluodynamics and confinement mechanisms

Summary of lattice simulation results on monopoles

Abstract

We review recent developments in understanding the physics of the magnetic monopoles in unbroken non-Abelian gauge theories. Since numerical data on the monopoles are accumulated in lattice simulations, the continuum theory is understood as the limiting case of the lattice formulation. In this review, written for a memorial volume dedicated to the memory of Academician A.B. Migdal, we emphasize physical effects related to the monopoles. In particular, we discuss the monopole-antimonopole potential at short and larger distances as well as a dual formulation of the gluodynamics, relevant to the physics of the confinement.