Confining Flux Tubes in a Current Algebra Approach

TL;DR

This paper explores flux tubes and confinement mechanisms in a low energy sigma model derived from a specific flavor symmetry breaking in $SO(N_c)$ QCD, revealing novel properties of flux tubes as Alice strings and their quantum stability.

Contribution

It introduces a new low energy model where gauge confinement is visible, constructs flux tubes with unique properties, and analyzes their stability and interactions, offering insights into confinement dynamics.

Findings

Flux tubes act as Alice strings with unique transport properties.

Twisted flux tube loops support skyrmion and monopole charges.

The model provides a new perspective on confinement and global string subtleties.

Abstract

We describe flux tubes and their interactions in a low energy sigma model induced by $SU({N_f}) \rightarrow SO({N_f})$ flavor symmetry breaking in $SO(N_c)$ QCD. Unlike standard QCD, this model allows gauge confinement to manifest itself in the low energy theory, which has unscreened spinor color sources and global $Z_2$ flux tubes. We construct the flux tubes and show how they mediate the confinement of spinor sources. We further examine the flux tubes' quantum stability, spectrum and interactions. We find that flux tubes are Alice strings, despite ambiguities in defining parallel transport. Furthermore, twisted loops of flux tube support skyrmion number, just as gauged Alice strings form loops that support monopole charge. This model, while phenomenologically nonviable, thus affords a perspective on both the dynamics of confinement and on subtleties which arise for global Alice strings.