Notes on Confinement on $\mathbf{R^3 \times S^1}$: From Yang-Mills, super-Yang-Mills, and QCD(adj) to QCD(F)

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Author: Poppitz, Erich
Format: Preprint
Published: 2021
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author Poppitz, Erich
author_facet Poppitz, Erich
contents This is a pedagogical introduction to the physics of confinement on $R^3 \times S^1$, using $SU(2)$ Yang-Mills with massive or massless adjoint fermions as the prime example; at the end, we also add fundamental flavours. The small-$S^1$ limit is remarkable, allowing for controlled semiclassical determination of the nonperturbative physics in these, mostly non-supersymmetric, theories. We begin by reviewing the Polyakov confinement mechanism on $R^3$. Moving on to $R^3 \times S^1$, we show how introducing adjoint fermions stabilizes center symmetry, leading to abelianization and semiclassical calculability. We explain how monopole-instantons and twisted monopole-instantons arise. We describe the role of various novel topological excitations in extending Polyakov's confinement to the locally four-dimensional case, discuss the nature of the confining string, and the $θ$-angle dependence.~We study the global symmetry realization and, when available, present evidence for the absence of phase transitions as a function of the $S^1$ size. As our aim is not to cover all work on the subject, but to prepare the interested reader for its study, we also include brief descriptions of topics not covered in detail: the necessity for analytic continuation of path integrals, the study of more general theories, and the 't Hooft anomalies involving higher-form symmetries.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2111_10423
institution arXiv
publishDate 2021
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Notes on Confinement on $\mathbf{R^3 \times S^1}$: From Yang-Mills, super-Yang-Mills, and QCD(adj) to QCD(F)
Poppitz, Erich
High Energy Physics - Theory
High Energy Physics - Lattice
High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
This is a pedagogical introduction to the physics of confinement on $R^3 \times S^1$, using $SU(2)$ Yang-Mills with massive or massless adjoint fermions as the prime example; at the end, we also add fundamental flavours. The small-$S^1$ limit is remarkable, allowing for controlled semiclassical determination of the nonperturbative physics in these, mostly non-supersymmetric, theories. We begin by reviewing the Polyakov confinement mechanism on $R^3$. Moving on to $R^3 \times S^1$, we show how introducing adjoint fermions stabilizes center symmetry, leading to abelianization and semiclassical calculability. We explain how monopole-instantons and twisted monopole-instantons arise. We describe the role of various novel topological excitations in extending Polyakov's confinement to the locally four-dimensional case, discuss the nature of the confining string, and the $θ$-angle dependence.~We study the global symmetry realization and, when available, present evidence for the absence of phase transitions as a function of the $S^1$ size. As our aim is not to cover all work on the subject, but to prepare the interested reader for its study, we also include brief descriptions of topics not covered in detail: the necessity for analytic continuation of path integrals, the study of more general theories, and the 't Hooft anomalies involving higher-form symmetries.
title Notes on Confinement on $\mathbf{R^3 \times S^1}$: From Yang-Mills, super-Yang-Mills, and QCD(adj) to QCD(F)
topic High Energy Physics - Theory
High Energy Physics - Lattice
High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2111.10423