35 research outputs found
On the chirality of quark modes
A model for the QCD vacuum based on a domainlike structured background gluon
field with definite duality attributed to the domains has been shown elsewhere
to give confinement of static quarks, a reasonable value for the topological
susceptibility and indications that chiral symmetry is spontaneously broken. In
this paper we study in detail the eigenvalue problem for the Dirac operator in
such a gluon mean field. A study of the local chirality parameter shows that
the lowest nonzero eigenmodes possess a definite mean chirality correlated with
the duality of a given domain. A probability distribution of the local
chirality qualitatively reproduces histograms seen in lattice simulations.Comment: RevTeX4, 5 figures, 14 page
Confinement and Chiral Symmetry Breaking via Domain-Like Structures in the QCD Vacuum
A qualitative mechanism for the emergence of domain structured background
gluon fields due to singularities in gauge field configurations is considered,
and a model displaying a type of mean field approximation to the QCD partition
function based on this mechanism is formulated. Estimation of the vacuum
parameters (gluon condensate, topological susceptibility, string constant and
quark condensate) indicates that domain-like structures lead to an area law for
the Wilson loop, nonzero topological susceptibility and spontaneous breakdown
of chiral symmetry. Gluon and ghost propagators in the presence of domains are
calculated explicitly and their analytical properties are discussed. The
Fourier transforms of the propagators are entire functions and thus describe
confined dynamical fields.Comment: RevTeX, 48 pages (32 pages + Appendices A-E), new references added
[1,2,4,5] and minor formulae corrected for typographical error
Abelian Monopole and Center Vortex Views at the Multi-Instanton Gas
We consider full non-Abelian, Abelian and center projected lattice field
configurations built up from random instanton gas configurations in the
continuum. We study the instanton contribution to the force with
respect to ({\it i}) instanton density dependence, ({\it ii}) Casimir scaling
and ({\it iii}) whether various versions of Abelian dominance hold. We check
that the dilute gas formulation for the interaction potential gives an reliable
approximation only for densities small compared to the phenomenological value.
We find that Casimir scaling does not hold, confirming earlier statements in
the literature. We show that the lattice used to discretize the instanton gas
configurations has to be sufficiently coarse ( compared
with the instanton size ) such that maximal Abelian gauge
projection and center projection as well as the monopole gas contribution to
the force reproduce the non-Abelian instanton-mediated force in the
intermediate range of linear quasi-confinement. We demonstrate that monopole
clustering also depends critically on the discretization scale confirming
earlier findings based on monopole blocking.Comment: 21 pages, 22 Postscript figure
Modeling the Subsurface Structure of Sunspots
While sunspots are easily observed at the solar surface, determining their
subsurface structure is not trivial. There are two main hypotheses for the
subsurface structure of sunspots: the monolithic model and the cluster model.
Local helioseismology is the only means by which we can investigate
subphotospheric structure. However, as current linear inversion techniques do
not yet allow helioseismology to probe the internal structure with sufficient
confidence to distinguish between the monolith and cluster models, the
development of physically realistic sunspot models are a priority for
helioseismologists. This is because they are not only important indicators of
the variety of physical effects that may influence helioseismic inferences in
active regions, but they also enable detailed assessments of the validity of
helioseismic interpretations through numerical forward modeling. In this paper,
we provide a critical review of the existing sunspot models and an overview of
numerical methods employed to model wave propagation through model sunspots. We
then carry out an helioseismic analysis of the sunspot in Active Region 9787
and address the serious inconsistencies uncovered by
\citeauthor{gizonetal2009}~(\citeyear{gizonetal2009,gizonetal2009a}). We find
that this sunspot is most probably associated with a shallow, positive
wave-speed perturbation (unlike the traditional two-layer model) and that
travel-time measurements are consistent with a horizontal outflow in the
surrounding moat.Comment: 73 pages, 19 figures, accepted by Solar Physic
Local Helioseismology of Sunspots: Current Status and Perspectives (Invited Review)
Mechanisms of the formation and stability of sunspots are among the
longest-standing and intriguing puzzles of solar physics and astrophysics.
Sunspots are controlled by subsurface dynamics hidden from direct observations.
Recently, substantial progress in our understanding of the physics of the
turbulent magnetized plasma in strong-field regions has been made by using
numerical simulations and local helioseismology. Both the simulations and
helioseismic measurements are extremely challenging, but it becomes clear that
the key to understanding the enigma of sunspots is a synergy between models and
observations. Recent observations and radiative MHD numerical models have
provided a convincing explanation to the Evershed flows in sunspot penumbrae.
Also, they lead to the understanding of sunspots as self-organized magnetic
structures in the turbulent plasma of the upper convection zone, which are
maintained by a large-scale dynamics. Local helioseismic diagnostics of
sunspots still have many uncertainties, some of which are discussed in this
review. However, there have been significant achievements in resolving these
uncertainties, verifying the basic results by new high-resolution observations,
testing the helioseismic techniques by numerical simulations, and comparing
results obtained by different methods. For instance, a recent analysis of
helioseismology data from the Hinode space mission has successfully resolved
several uncertainties and concerns (such as the inclined-field and phase-speed
filtering effects) that might affect the inferences of the subsurface
wave-speed structure of sunspots and the flow pattern. It becomes clear that
for the understanding of the phenomenon of sunspots it is important to further
improve the helioseismology methods and investigate the whole life cycle of
active regions, from magnetic-flux emergence to dissipation.Comment: 34 pages, 18 figures, submitted to Solar Physic