QCD, monopoles on the Lattice and gauge invariance

The number and the location of the monopoles observed on the lattice in QCD configurations happens to depend strongly on the choice of the gauge used to expose them, in contrast to the physical expectation that monopoles be gauge invariant objects. It is proved by use of the non abelian Bianchi identities (NABI) that monopoles are indeed gauge invariant, but the method used to detect them depends, in a controllable way, on the choice of the abelian projection. Numerical checks are presented.Comment: 3 pages, 1 figure. Presented at the Conference QUARK CONFINEMENT AND THE HADRON SPECTRUM IX, Madrid Aug.30-Sept.3 201

Gauge Invariance and Lattice Monopoles

The number and the location of monopoles in Lattice configurations depend on the choice of the gauge, in contrast to the obvious requirement that monopoles, as physical objects, have a gauge-invariant status. It is proved, starting from non-abelian Bianchi identities, that monopoles are indeed gauge-invariant: the technique used to detect them has instead an efficiency which depends on the choice of the abelian projection, in a known and well understood way.Comment: Presented at the Conference QCD@WORK10, Martina Franca (Italy) 20-23 June 2010 to appear in the proceeding

Detecting monopoles on the lattice

We address the issue why the number and the location of magnetic monopoles detected on lattice configurations are gauge dependent, in contrast with the physical expectation that monopoles have a gauge invariant status. By use of the Non-Abelian Bianchi Identities we show that monopoles are gauge invariant, but the efficiency of the technique usually adopted to detect them depends on the choice of the gauge in a well understood way. In particular we have studied a class of gauges which interpolates between the Maximal Abelian gauge, where all monopoles are observed, and the Landau gauge, where all monopoles escape detection.Comment: 5 pages, 1 ps figur

Topological Quantum Phase Transition in Synthetic Non-Abelian Gauge Potential

The method of synthetic gauge potentials opens up a new avenue for our understanding and discovering novel quantum states of matter. We investigate the topological quantum phase transition of Fermi gases trapped in a honeycomb lattice in the presence of a synthetic non- Abelian gauge potential. We develop a systematic fermionic effective field theory to describe a topological quantum phase transition tuned by the non-Abelian gauge potential and ex- plore its various important experimental consequences. Numerical calculations on lattice scales are performed to compare with the results achieved by the fermionic effective field theory. Several possible experimental detection methods of topological quantum phase tran- sition are proposed. In contrast to condensed matter experiments where only gauge invariant quantities can be measured, both gauge invariant and non-gauge invariant quantities can be measured by experimentally generating various non-Abelian gauges corresponding to the same set of Wilson loops

The Waning of the WIMP? A Review of Models, Searches, and Constraints

Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs) are among the best-motivated dark matter candidates. In light of no conclusive detection signal yet despite an extensive search program that combines, often in a complementary way, direct, indirect, and collider probes, we find it timely to give a broad overview of the WIMP paradigm. In particular, we review here the theoretical foundations of the WIMP paradigm, discuss status and prospects of various detection strategies, and explore future experimental challenges and opportunities.Comment: 101 pages, 20 figure

Spin superfluidity and spin-orbit gauge symmetry fixing

The Hamiltonian describing 2D electron gas, in a spin-orbit active medium, can be cast into a consistent non-Abelian gauge field theory leading to a proper definition of the spin current. The generally advocated gauge symmetric version of the theory results in current densities that are gauge covariant, a fact that poses severe concerns on their physical nature. We show that in fact the problem demands gauge fixing, leaving no room to ambiguity in the definition of physical spin currents. Gauge fixing also allows for polarized edge excitations not present in the gauge symmetric case. The scenario here is analogous to that of superconductivity gauge theory. We develop a variational formulation that accounts for the constraints between U(1) physical fields and SU(2) gauge fields and show that gauge fixing renders a physical matter and radiation currents and derive the particular consequences for the Rashba SO interaction.Comment: to appear in EP