On the zero of the fermion zero mode

We argue that the fermionic zero mode in non-trivial gauge field backgrounds must have a zero. We demonstrate this explicitly for calorons where its location is related to a constituent monopole. Furthermore a topological reasoning for the existence of the zero is given which therefore will be present for any non-trivial configuration. We propose the use of this property in particular for lattice simulations in order to uncover the topological content of a configuration.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures in 5 part

Anderson localization through Polyakov loops: lattice evidence and Random matrix model

We investigate low-lying fermion modes in SU(2) gauge theory at temperatures above the phase transition. Both staggered and overlap spectra reveal transitions from chaotic (random matrix) to integrable (Poissonian) behavior accompanied by an increasing localization of the eigenmodes. We show that the latter are trapped by local Polyakov loop fluctuations. Islands of such "wrong" Polyakov loops can therefore be viewed as defects leading to Anderson localization in gauge theories. We find strong similarities in the spatial profile of these localized staggered and overlap eigenmodes. We discuss possible interpretations of this finding and present a sparse random matrix model that reproduces these features.Comment: 11 pages, 23 plots in 11 figures; some comments and references added, some axis labels corrected; journal versio

Linking confinement to spectral properties of the Dirac operator

We represent Polyakov loops and their correlators as spectral sums of eigenvalues and eigenmodes of the lattice Dirac operator. The deconfinement transition of pure gauge theory is characterized as a change in the response of moments of eigenvalues to varying the boundary conditions of the Dirac operator. We argue that the potential between static quarks is linked to spatial correlations of Dirac eigenvectors.Comment: References and a comment added. To appear in PR

Quantitative comparison of filtering methods in lattice QCD

We systematically compare filtering methods used to extract topological excitations (like instantons, calorons, monopoles and vortices) from lattice gauge configurations, namely APE-smearing and spectral decompositions based on lattice Dirac and Laplace operators. Each of these techniques introduces ambiguities, which can invalidate the interpretation of the results. We show, however, that all these methods, when handled with care, reveal very similar topological structures. Hence, these common structures are free of ambiguities and faithfully represent infrared degrees of freedom in the QCD vacuum. As an application we discuss an interesting power-law for the clusters of filtered topological charge.Comment: 6 pages, 18 plots in 5 figures; final version as published in EPJ A; section 4 was adde

Cautionary remarks on the moduli space metric for multi-dyon simulations

We perform a detailed numerical investigation of the approximate moduli space metric proposed by Diakonov and Petrov [arXiv:0704.3181] for a confining model of dyons. Our findings strongly indicate that only for a small number of dyons at sufficiently low density this metric is positive definite - and, therefore, a valid moduli space metric - throughout a considerable part of configuration space. This poses strong limitations on results obtained by an unrestricted integration over collective coordinates in this model. It also indicates that strong correlations between collective coordinates will be essential for the physical content of a dyon model, which could be exhibited by a suitable simulation algorithm.Comment: 20 pages, 6 figure

Deconfinement phase transition and the quark condensate

We study the dual quark condensate as a signal for the confinement-deconfinement phase transition of QCD. This order parameter for center symmetry has been defined recently by Bilgici et al. within the framework of lattice QCD. In this work we determine the ordinary and the dual quark condensate with functional methods using a formulation of the Dyson-Schwinger equations for the quark propagator on a torus. The temperature dependence of these condensates serves to investigate the interplay between the chiral and deconfinement transitions of quenched QCD.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, v2: minor changes, typos corrected, version accepted by PR

Probing for Instanton Quarks with epsilon-Cooling

We use epsilon-cooling, adjusting at will the order a^2 corrections to the lattice action, to study the parameter space of instantons in the background of non-trivial holonomy and to determine the presence and nature of constituents with fractional topological charge at finite and zero temperature for SU(2). As an additional tool, zero temperature configurations were generated from those at finite temperature with well-separated constituents. This is achieved by "adiabatically" adjusting the anisotropic coupling used to implement finite temperature on a symmetric lattice. The action and topological charge density, as well as the Polyakov loop and chiral zero-modes are used to analyse these configurations. We also show how cooling histories themselves can reveal the presence of constituents with fractional topological charge. We comment on the interpretation of recent fermion zero-mode studies for thermalized ensembles at small temperatures.Comment: 26 pages, 14 figures in 33 part

Local CP-violation and electric charge separation by magnetic fields from lattice QCD

We study local CP-violation on the lattice by measuring the local correlation between the topological charge density and the electric dipole moment of quarks, induced by a constant external magnetic field. This correlator is found to increase linearly with the external field, with the coefficient of proportionality depending only weakly on temperature. Results are obtained on lattices with various spacings, and are extrapolated to the continuum limit after the renormalization of the observables is carried out. This renormalization utilizes the gradient flow for the quark and gluon fields. Our findings suggest that the strength of local CP-violation in QCD with physical quark masses is about an order of magnitude smaller than a model prediction based on nearly massless quarks in domains of constant gluon backgrounds with topological charge. We also show numerical evidence that the observed local CP-violation correlates with spatially extended electric dipole structures in the QCD vacuum.Comment: 19 pages, 7 figures. Additional lattice results about the induced electric dipole structure, extended model description, specified terminology. Version published in JHE