Free energy and theta dependence of SU(N) gauge theories

We study the dependence of the free energy on the CP violating angle theta, in four-dimensional SU(N) gauge theories with N >= 3, and in the large-N limit. Using the Wilson lattice formulation for numerical simulations, we compute the first few terms of the expansion of the ground-state energy F(theta) around theta = 0, F(theta) - F(0) = A_2 theta^2 (1 + b_2 theta^2 + ...). Our results support Witten's conjecture: F(theta) - F(0) = A theta^2 + O(1/N) for theta < pi. We verify that the topological susceptibility has a nonzero large-N limit chi_infinity = 2A with corrections of O(1/N^2), in substantial agreement with the Witten-Veneziano formula which relates chi_infinity to the eta' mass. Furthermore, higher order terms in theta are suppressed; in particular, the O(theta^4) term b_2 (related to the eta' - eta' elastic scattering amplitude) turns out to be quite small: b_2 = -0.023(7) for N=3, and its absolute value decreases with increasing N, consistently with the expectation b_2 = O(1/N^2).Comment: 3 pages, talk presented at the conference Lattice2002(topology). v2: One reference has been updated, no further change

Chiral symmetry breaking in the 3-d Thirring model for small NfN_f

We study the dynamical breaking of chiral symmetry in the 3-d Thirring model for a small number of fermion species. The critical point is identified by fitting lattice data to an equation of state. The spectrum of the theory is studied to confirm the phase structure of the model.Comment: 3 pages, 3 figures. Talk presented at Lattice '9

Detecting Dual Superconductivity in the Ground State of Gauge Theory

We explicitly construct a monopole creation operator: its vacuum expectation value is an order parameter for dual superconductivity, in that, if different from zero, it signals a spontaneous breaking of the $U(1)$ symmetry corresponding to monopole charge conservation. This operator is tested by numerical simulations in compact $U(1)$ gauge theory. Our construction provides a general recipe for detection of the condensation of any topological soliton. In particular our operator can be used to detect dual superconductivity of the QCD vacuum.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures avalaible on request. REVTE

Topological susceptibility of SU(N) gauge theories at finite temperature

We investigate the large-N behavior of the topological susceptibility in four-dimensional SU(N) gauge theories at finite temperature, and in particular across the finite-temperature transition at Tc. For this purpose, we consider the lattice formulation of the SU(N) gauge theories and perform Monte Carlo simulations for N=4,6. The results indicate that the topological susceptibility has a nonvanishing large-N limit for T<Tc, as at T=0, and that the topological properties remain substantially unchanged in the low-temperature phase. On the other hand, above the deconfinement phase transition, the topological susceptibility shows a large suppression. The comparison between the data for N=4 and N=6 hints at a vanishing large-N limit for T>Tc.Comment: 9 pages, 2 figs, a few discussions added, JHEP in pres

Vortex solution in 2+1 dimensional Yang-Mills theory at high temperatures

At high temperatures the A_0 component of the Yang--Mills field plays the role of the Higgs field, and the 1-loop potential V(A_0) plays the role of the Higgs potential. We find a new stable vortex solution of the Abrikosov-Nielsen-Olesen type, and discuss its properties and possible implications.Comment: 8 p., three .eps figures include

Topological susceptibility in the SU(3) gauge theory

We compute the topological susceptibility for the SU(3) Yang--Mills theory by employing the expression of the topological charge density operator suggested by Neuberger's fermions. In the continuum limit we find r_0^4 chi = 0.059(3), which corresponds to chi=(191 +/- 5 MeV)^4 if F_K is used to set the scale. Our result supports the Witten--Veneziano explanation for the large mass of the eta'.Comment: Final version to appear on Phys. Rev. Let

N-ality and topology at finite temperature

We study the spectrum of confining strings in SU(3) pure gauge theory, in different representations of the gauge group. Our results provide direct evidence that the string spectrum agrees with predictions based on n-ality. We also investigate the large-N behavior of the topological susceptibility $\chi$ in four-dimensional SU(N) gauge theories at finite temperature, and in particular across the finite-temperature transition at $T_c$. The results indicate that $\chi$ has a nonvanishing large-N limit for $T<T_c$, as at T=0, and that the topological properties remain substantially unchanged in the low-temperature phase. On the other hand, above the deconfinement phase transition, $\chi$ shows a large suppression. The comparison between the data for N=4 and N=6 hints at a vanishing large-N limit for $T>T_c$.Comment: 3 pages, 2 figures. Presented at Lattice2004(topology

Local coherence and deflation of the low quark modes in lattice QCD

The spontaneous breaking of chiral symmetry in QCD is known to be linked to a non-zero density of eigenvalues of the massless Dirac operator near the origin. Numerical studies of two-flavour QCD now suggest that the low quark modes are locally coherent to a certain extent. As a consequence, the modes can be simultaneously deflated, using local projectors, with a total computational effort proportional to the lattice volume (rather than its square). Deflation has potentially many uses in lattice QCD. The technique is here worked out for the case of quark propagator calculations, where large speed-up factors and a flat scaling behaviour with respect to the quark mass are achieved.Comment: Plain TeX, 23 pages, 4 figures included; minor text modifications; version published in JHE