Volume 518 - The 42nd International Symposium on Lattice Field Theory (LATTICE2025) - Parallel Session Vacuum structure and confinement
Emergent photons vs confinement: the roles of vortices and monopoles
M. Nguyen*, T. Sulejmanpasic and M. Unsal
*: corresponding author
Full text: Not available
Abstract
We give a new analysis of the roles of center vortices and magnetic monopoles in determining the vacuum phases of theories with $\mathbf Z_N$ 1-form symmetry, such as pure $SU(N)$ and $\mathbf Z_N$ gauge theories in the continuum or on the lattice.
It is argued on general grounds, and analytically proven in a 4D $\mathbf Z_N$ lattice gauge theory, that center vortex proliferation without monopole proliferation leads to a Coulomb phase -- emergent photons -- rather than confinement.
We conclude that center vortex proliferation alone cannot be a general mechanism for quark confinement.
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