3D Georgi-Glashow model and confining strings at zero and finite temperatures

In this review, we discuss the confining and finite-temperature properties of the 3D SU(N) Georgi-Glashow model, and of 4D compact QED. At zero temperature, we derive string representations of both theories, thus constructing the SU(N)-version of Polyakov's theory of confining strings. We discuss the geometric properties of confining strings, as well as the appearance of the string theta-term from the field-theoretical one in 4D, and k-string tensions at N larger than 2. In particular, we point out the relevance of negative stiffness for stabilizing confining strings, an effect recently re-discovered in material science. At finite temperature, we present a derivation of the confining-string free energy and show that, at the one-loop level and for a certain class of string models in the large-D limit, it matches that of QCD at large N. This crucial matching is again a consequence of the negative stiffness. In the discussion of the finite-temperature properties of the 3D Georgi-Glashow model, in order to be closer to QCD, we mostly concentrate at the effects produced by some extensions of the model by external matter fields, such as dynamical fundamental quarks or photinos, in the supersymmetric generalization of the model.Comment: 79 pages, LaTeX2e, uses ws-procs975x65.cls, no figures, minor editorial corrections are included. To be published in the Ian Kogan Memorial Collection "From Fields to Strings: Circumnavigating Theoretical Physics", World Scientific, 200

Superconductors with Topological Order and their Realization in Josephson Junction Arrays

We will describe a new superconductivity mechanism, proposed by the authors in [1], which is based on a topologically ordered ground state rather than on the usual Landau mechanism of spontaneous symmetry breaking. Contrary to anyon superconductivity it works in any dimension and it preserves P-and T-invariance. In particular we will discuss the low-energy effective field theory, what would be the Landau-Ginzburg formulation for conventional superconductors.Comment: invited review, to appear in "Superconductivity Research Advances", Nova Publishers, 32 page

On the Doubling Phenomenon in Lattice Chern-Simons Theories

We analyse the pure Chern-Simons theory on an Euclidean infinite lattice. We point out that, as a consequence of its symmetries, the Chern-Simons theory does not have an integrable kernel. Due to the linearity of the action in the derivatives, the situation is very similar to the one arising in the lattice formulation of fermionic theories. Doubling of bosonic degrees of freedom is removed by adding a Maxwell term with a mechanism similar to the one proposed by Wilson for fermionic models.Comment: Lattice 2000, 4 pages, Late

Gauge Topological Nature of the Superconductor-Insulator Transition

It has long been believed that, at absolute zero, electrons can form only one quantum coherent state, a superconductor. Yet, several two dimensional superconducting systems were found to harbor the superinsulating state with infinite resistance, a mirror image of superconductivity, and a metallic state often referred to as Bose metal, characterized by finite longitudinal and vanishing Hall resistances. The nature of these novel and mysterious quantum coherent states is the subject of intense study.Here, we propose a topological gauge description of the superconductor-insulator transition (SIT) that enables us to identify the underlying mechanism of superinsulation as Polyakov's linear confinement of Cooper pairs via instantons. We find a criterion defining conditions for either a direct SIT or for the SIT via the intermediate Bose metal and demonstrate that this Bose metal phase is a Mott topological insulator in which the Cooper pair-vortex liquid is frozen by Aharonov-Bohm interactions