An Introduction To The Confinement Problem

This book addresses the confinement problem, which concerns the behavior of non-abelian gauge theories, and the force which is mediated by gauge fields, at large distances. The word “confinement” in the context of hadronic physics originally referred to the fact that quarks and gluons appear to be trapped inside mesons and baryons, from which they cannot escape. There are other, and possibly deeper meanings that can be attached to the term, and these will be explored in this book. Although the confinement problem is far from solved, much is now known about the general features of the confining force, and there are a number of very well motivated theories of confinement which are under active investigation. This volume gives a both pedagogical and concise introduction and overview of the main ideas in this field, their attractive features, and, as appropriate, their shortcomings. This second edition summarizes some of the developments in this area which have occurred since the first edition of this book appeared in 2011. These include new results in the caloron/dyon picture of confinement, in functional approaches, and in studies of the Yang-Mills vacuum wave functional. Special attention, in two new chapters, is given to recent numerical investigations of the center vortex theory, and to the varieties of confinement which may exist in gauge-Higgs theories. Reviews of the first edition: “This is indeed a very good book. I enjoyed reading it and... I learned a lot from it.... It is definitely a research book that provides readers with a guide to the most updated confinement models.” (Giuseppe Nardelli, Mathematical Reviews, Issue 2012 d) “The book is beautifully produced with special emphasis on the relevance of center symmetry and lattice formulation as well as an introduction to current research on confinement.” (Paninjukunnath Achuthan, Zentralblatt MATH, Vol. 1217, 2011)

This meeting on Hadron Spectroscopy and the Confinement Problem took place from June 27 to July 8, 1995. The first four days were at Queen Mary and Westfield College, London and the last six at the University College of Swansea, Wales. The reason for the split sites was a question of accomodating the 54 students and 12 lecturers. However, it was enjoyed by all concerned, providing the opportunity to sample the nightlife of London one week and enjoy the delightful coastal area around Swansea the following week. The meeting immediately preceded the Hadron '95 conference in Manchester. The contents of this volume run roughly parallel to the order of the lectures. Martin Faessler's brief and that of Madjid Boutemeur was to review experimental tech niques as well as physics results. We have tried to review all the areas which are currently active experimentally. This means mostly Light Meson Spectroscopy. However, Simon Capstick gave us a welcome review of Baryon Spectroscopy and the coming CEBAF program. This is an opportunity to thank NATO for their generous financial support, and also the two host institutions for excellent coordination and an enjoyable stay.

This thesis focuses on an unresolved problem in particle and nuclear physics: the relation between two important non-perturbative phenomena in quantum chromodynamics (QCD) – quark confinement and chiral symmetry breaking. The author develops a new analysis method in the lattice QCD, and derives a number of analytical formulae to express the order parameters for quark confinement, such as the Polyakov loop, its fluctuations, and the Wilson loop in terms of the Dirac eigenmodes closely related to chiral symmetry breaking. Based on the analytical formulae, the author analytically as well as numerically shows that at finite temperatures there is no direct one-to-one correspondence between them. The thesis describes this extraordinary achievement using the first-principle analysis, and proposes a possible new phase in which quarks are confined and chiral symmetry is restored.

The energy momentum tensor (EMT) is one of the most fundamental observables in physics. Recently, a novel method to define EMT on the basis of the gradient-flow formalism has been proposed. It turned out that the EMT operator can be constructed even on the lattice with the method, which enables non-perturbative computations. This approach has been successfully applied to the analyses on thermodynamic quantities. This book presents the study on spatial EMT distributions around static charges via the gradient flow in lattice simulations based on SU(3) Yang-Mills theory. Static charges are employed as probes to explore complex quantum systems, and EMT then characterizes the response of vacuum as well as hot medium under the existence of the charges, which significantly provides profound and novel insights into the non-perturbative phenomena, such as the confinement of quarks. In addition, the book treats the study on the EMT distribution around a magnetic vortex in the Abelian-Higgs model, which is compared with the lattice result. These achievements open up various future studies for revealing non-trivial aspects of the strong interaction. The book also includes well-organized reviews on general properties of EMT, lattice gauge theory and the gradient-flow formalism with its application to the definition of EMT. They are useful for students and young researchers as a brief introduction to this field.

Here it is, in a nutshell: the history of one genius’s most crucial work – discoveries that were to change the face of modern physics. In the early 1900s, Albert Einstein formulated two theories that would forever change the landscape of physics: the Special Theory of Relativity and the General Theory of Relativity. Respected American academic Professor Tai Chow tells us the story of these discoveries. He details the basic ideas of Einstein, including his law of gravitation. Deftly employing his inimitable writing style, he goes on to explain the physics behind black holes, weaving into his account an explanation of the structure of the universe and the science of cosmology.

On the 40th anniversary of the Berezinskii–Kosterlitz–Thouless Theory (BKT), this informative volume looks back at some of the developments and achievements and varied physics applications which ensued from the beautiful BKT vortex-unbinding seminal idea. During the last four decades, BKT theory, which is undeniably one of the most important developments in condensed matter and theoretical physics of the second half of the twentieth century, has expanded widely. It has been used and extended from many different theoretical and experimental perspectives. New and unexpected features have been uncovered from the BKT theory. Since its inception, apart from applications in condensed matter physics, the theory has been actively applied in other branches of physics, such as high energy physics, atomic physics, nuclear physics, statistical physics, nonlinear systems, etc. This makes the theory an indispensable topic for all who are involved in physics. An international team of experts, each of whom has left his mark on the developments of this remarkable theory and experimental applications, contribute both historical essays and more detailed current technical and experimental accounts to this volume. These articles highlight the new discoveries from the respective authors' perspectives. This unique volume celebrates the impact over four decades of the BKT theory on modern physics. In addition to the historical perspective provided by Kosterlitz and Thouless's overview, the volume provides a comprehensive description of experimental and theoretical applications and extensions of the BKT theory. Contents:Early Work on Defect Driven Phase Transitions (J M Kosterlitz and D J Thouless)Duality, Gauge Symmetries, Renormalization Groups and the BKT Transition (J V José)Berezinskii–Kosterlitz–Thouless Transition Through the Eyes of Duality (G Ortiz, E Cobanera and Z Nussinov)The Berezinskii–Kosterlitz–Thouless Transition in Superconductors (A M Goldman)Berezinskii–Kosterlitz–Thouless Transition within the Sine–Gordon Approach: The Role of the Vortex-Core Energy (L Benfatto, C Castellani and T Giamarchi)The Two-Dimensional Fully Frustrated XY Model (S Teitel)Charges and Vortices in Josephson Junction Arrays (R Fazio and G Schön)Superinsulator–Superconductor Duality in Two Dimensions and Berezinskii–Kosterlitz–Thouless Transition (V M Vinokur and T I Baturina)BKT Physics with Two-Dimensional Atomic Gases (Z Hadzibabic and J Dalibard)Vortex Physics in the Quantum Hall Bilayer (H A Fertig and G Murthy) Readership: Graduate students and researchers in condensed matter and theoretical physics. Keywords:Phase Transitions;BKT Transition;Renormalization;Superconductors;VorticesKey Features:Contributors are a distinguished group of experts, each of whom has left his/her mark on the developments of this fascinating theoryReviews: “The editor has made an excellent job in bringing together ten articles exhaustively covering the most paradigmatic examples. All articles have the appropriate extension so as to offer a comprehensive tutorial basis to each argument. The book is completed by a very informative introduction by the editor and a useful subject index. ” Il Nuovo Saggiatore

V N Gribov, one of the founders of modern particle physics, shaped our understanding of QCD as the microscopic dynamics of hadrons. This volume collects his papers on quark confinement, showing the road he followed to arrive at the theory and formulating the theory itself. It begins with papers providing a beautiful physical explanation of asymptotic freedom based on the phenomenon of antiscreening and demonstrating the inconsistency of the standard perturbative treatment of the gluon fields (Gribov copies, Gribov horizon). It continues with papers presenting the Gribov theory according to which confinement of colour is determined by the existence of practically massless quarks. The last two papers conclude Gribov's twenty-year-long study of the problem; QCD is formulated as a quantum field theory containing both perturbative and nonperturbative phenomena, and the confinement is based on the supercritical binding of light quarks.

Preventable dust explosions continue to occur in industry in spite of significant research and practice efforts worldwide over many years. There is a need for effective understanding of the unique hazards posed by combustible dust. This book describes a number of dust explosion myths – which together cover the main source of dust explosion hazards – the reasons they exist and the corresponding scientific and engineering facts that mitigate these circumstances. An Introduction to Dust Explosions describes the main erroneous beliefs about the origin and propagation of dust explosions. It offers fact-based explanations for their occurrence and the impact of such events and provides a critical guide to managing and mitigating dust explosion risks. Designed to prevent accidents, injury, loss of life and capital damage An easy-to-read, scientifically rigorous treatment of the facts and fictions of dust explosions for those who need to – or ought to – understand dust explosions, their occurrence and consequences Enables the management and mitigation of these critical industrial hazards