String Tension from Monopoles in SU(2) Lattice Gauge Theory

The axis for Figure 2 was wrong. It has been fixed and the postscript file replaced (The file was called comp.ps).Comment: (22 pages latex (revtex); 2 figures appended as postscript files - search for mono.ps and comp.ps. Figures mailed on request--send a note to [email protected]) Preprint ILL-(TH)-94-#1

Micro-abrasion–corrosion of a Co–Cr/UHMWPE couple in Ringer's solution : an approach to construction of mechanism and synergism maps for application to bio-implants

In studies of tribo-corrosion, the degradation of bio-materials has become of increasing research interest in recent years. This is because, in many cases, the interactions of the tribological and corrosion component in biological environments are not well understood. Moreover, the wide range of variables involved in the tribo-corrosion process, and the variety of materials used in such conditions, means that there are few systematic studies where materials and operating conditions are optimized. In the total replacement of hip joints, the Co-Cr/UHMWPE couple has been used widely. However, the application of any replacement joint for biological conditions will depend on many factors including the activity of the patient and the overall load imposed on the artificial joint. This means evaluation of the tribo-corrosion behaviour over a multi parameter space is important in order to assess the degradation possible for many patient/activity and body mass categories.In this work, the performance of a Co-Cr/UHMWPE couple was evaluated in Ringer's solution in a tribological situation where micron size particles particles were entrained in the contact - micro-abrasion-corrosion. The effects of applied load and potential were investigated in the study. Micro-abrasion-corrosion maps were constructed for the material indicating the mechanism of degradation, the extent of wastage and of synergy/antagonism involved in the tribo-corrosion interaction

Monopole clusters, Z(2) vortices and confinement in SU(2)

We extend our previous study of magnetic monopole currents in the maximally Abelian gauge [hep-lat/9712003] to larger lattices at small lattice spacings (20^4 at beta = 2.5 and 32^4 at beta = 2.5115). We confirm that at these weak couplings there continues to be one monopole cluster that is very much longer than the rest and that the string tension, K, is entirely due to it. The remaining clusters are compact objects whose population as a function of radius follows a power law that deviates from the scale invariant form, but much too weakly to suggest a link with the analytically calculable size distribution of small instantons. We also search for traces of Z(2) vortices in the Abelian projected fields; either as closed loops of `magnetic' flux or through appropriate correlations amongst the monopoles. We find, by direct calculation, that there is no confining condensate of such flux loops. We also find, through the calculation of doubly charged Wilson loops within the monopole fields, that there is no suppression of the q=2 effective string tension out to at distances of at least r ~ 1.6/sqrt{K}, suggesting that if there are any vortices they are not encoded in the monopole fields.Comment: 26 pages of LaTeX and PostScript figure

The Coulomb law in the pure gauge U(1) theory on a lattice

We study the heavy charge potential in the Coulomb phase of pure gauge compact U(1) theory on the lattice. We calculate the static potential $V_W(T,{\vec R})$ from Wilson loops on a $16^3 \times 32$ lattice and compare with the predictions of lattice perturbation theory. We investigate finite size effects and, in particular, the importance of non-Coulomb contributions to the potential. We also comment on the existence of a maximal coupling in the Coulomb phase of pure gauge U(1) theory.Comment: 14 pages. LaTeX file and 3 postscript figure

Abelian Monopoles in SU(2) Lattice Gauge Theory as Physical Objects

By numerical calculations we show that the abelian monopole currents are locally correlated with the density of SU(2) lattice action. The correlations are larger by the order of magnitude in the maximal abelian projection than in the projections which correspond to the diagonalization of Polyakov line and to the diagonalization of the plaquette. These facts show that (at least) in the maximal abelian projection the monopoles are the physical objects, they carry the SU(2) action. The larger value of \beta, the larger the relative action carried by monopole. Calculations on the asymmetric lattice show that this correlation exists also in the deconfinement phase of gluodynamics.Comment: 6 pages, RevTeX, 3 figures, uses epsf.sty; to be published in Phys.Rev.Lett., replaced to match version accepted for publicatio

Dynamics of Monopoles and Flux Tubes in Two-Flavor Dynamical QCD

We investigate the confining properties of the QCD vacuum with $N_f=2$ flavors of dynamical quarks, and compare the results with the properties of the quenched theory. We use non-perturbatively $\mathcal{O}(a)$ improved Wilson fermions to keep cut-off effects small. We focus on color magnetic monopoles. Among the quantities we study are the monopole density and the monopole screening length, the static potential and the profile of the color electric flux tube. We furthermore derive the low-energy effective monopole action. Marked differences between the quenched and dynamical vacuum are found.Comment: 34 pages, 28 figures, Late

Dual Superconductor Scenario of Confinement: A Systematic Study of Gribov Copy Effects

We perform a study of the effects from maximal abelian gauge Gribov copies in the context of the dual superconductor scenario of confinement, on the basis of a novel approach for estimation of systematic uncertainties from incomplete gauge fixing. We present numerical results, in SU(2) lattice gauge theory, using the overrelaxed simulated annealing gauge fixing algorithm. We find abelian and non-abelian string tensions to differ significantly, their ratio being 0.92(4) at BETA = 2.5115. An approximate factorization of the abelian potential into monopole and photon contributions has been confirmed, the former giving rise to the abelian string tension.Comment: 35 pages uucompressed LaTeX with 10 encapsuled postscript figure

Vortex critical behavior at the de-confinement phase transition

The de-confinement phase transition in SU(2) Yang-Mills theory is revisited in the vortex picture. Defining the world sheets of the confining vortices by maximal center projection, the percolation properties of the vortex lines in the hypercube consisting of the time axis and two spatial axis are studied. Using the percolation cumulant, the temperature for the percolation transition is seen to be in good agreement with the critical temperature of the thermal transition. The finite size scaling function for the cumulant is obtained. The critical index of the finite size scaling function is consistent with the index of the 3D Ising model.Comment: 4 pages, 4 PS figures, using revtex4, paragraph and refs added, typo correcte