On the linear increase of the flux tube thickness near the deconfinement transition

We study the flux tube thickness of a generic Lattice Gauge Theory near the deconfining phase transition. It is well known that the effective string model predicts a logarithmic increase of the flux tube thickness as a function of the interquark distance for any confining LGT at zero temperature. It is perhaps less known that this same model predicts a linear increase in the vicinity of the deconfinement transition. We present a precise derivation of this result and compare it with a set of high precision simulations in the case of the 3d gauge Ising model.Comment: 20 pages, 4 figures, minor changes. Accepted for publication in JHE

String effects in SU(2) lattice gauge theory

We discuss the effective string picture for the confining regime of lattice gauge theories at zero and finite temperature. We present results of extensive Monte Carlo simulations - performed with the Luscher and Weisz algorithm - for SU(2) Yang-Mills theory in 2+1 dimensions. We also address the issue of "string universality" by comparing our results with those obtained in other lattice gauge theories.Comment: 3 pages, 2 figures, Lattice2003(topology

Static quark potential and effective string corrections in the (2+1)-d SU(2) Yang-Mills theory

We report on a very accurate measurement of the static quark potential in SU(2) Yang-Mills theory in (2+1) dimensions in order to study the corrections to the linear behaviour. We perform numerical simulations at zero and finite temperature comparing our results with the corrections given by the effective string picture in these two regimes. We also check for universal features discussing our results together with those recently published for the (2+1)-d Z(2) and SU(3) pure gauge theories.Comment: 29 pages, 6 figure

Short distance behaviour of the effective string

We study the Polyakov loop correlator in the (2+1) dimensional Z_2 gauge model. An algorithm that we have presented recently, allows us to reach high precision results for a large range of distances and temperatures, giving us the opportunity to test predictions of the effective Nambu-Goto string model. Here we focus on the regime of low temperatures and small distances. In contrast to the high temperature, large distance regime, we find that our numerical results are not well described by the two loop-prediction of the Nambu-Goto model. In addition we compare our data with those for the SU(2) and SU(3) gauge models in (2+1) dimensions obtained by other authors. We generalize the result of L\"uscher and Weisz for a boundary term in the interquark potential to the finite temperature case.Comment: 38 pages, 7 figures, version accepted for publication in JHE

Universal behaviour of interfaces in 2d and dimensional reduction of Nambu-Goto strings

We propose a simple effective model for the description of interfaces in 2d statistical models, based on the first-order treatment of an action corresponding to the length of the interface. The universal prediction of this model for the interface free energy agrees with the result of an exact calculation in the case of the 2d Ising model. This model appears as a dimensional reduction of the Nambu-Goto stringy description of interfaces in 3d, i.e., of the capillary wave model.Comment: 14 pages, 1 figur

Flux tube delocalization at the deconfinement point

We study the behaviour of the flux tube thickness in the vicinity of the deconfinement transition. We show, using effective string methods, that in this regime the square width increases linearly and not logarithmically with the interquark distance. The amplitude of this linear growth is an increasing function of the temperature and diverges as the deconfinement transition is approached from below. These predictions are in good agreement with a set of simulations performed in the 3d gauge Ising model.Comment: 16 pages, 1 figure. Revised version, with an improved discussion of the dimensional reduction approach. Accepted for publication in JHE

The Lorentz-invariant boundary action of the confining string and its universal contribution to the inter-quark potential

We study the boundary contribution to the low energy effective action of the open string describing the confining flux tube in gauge theories. The form of the boundary terms is strongly constrained by the requirement of Lorentz symmetry, which is spontaneously broken by the formation of a long confining flux tube in the vacuum. Writing the boundary action as an expansion in the derivatives of the Nambu-Goldstone modes describing the transverse fluctuations of the string, we single out and put in a closed form the first few Lorentz invariant boundary terms. We also evaluate the leading deviation from the Nambu-Goto string produced by the boundary action on the vacuum expectation value of the Wilson loop and we test this prediction in the 3d Ising gauge model. Our simulation attains a level of precision which is sufficient to test the contribution of this term.Comment: 17 pages, 5 figures, LateX 2e. V2: Final version published on JHEP. Fixed typos in eq.s 2.2, 2.3, 3.7, 3.8, A.4. Extended explanation of the procedures used in sec 2 to determine the possible boundary terms up to field redefinitions and of the procedure used in sec 4 to take the continuum limit. V3: typos corrected in eq.s (4.3) (4.5) and (4.6), acknowledgements adde

A new universality class describing the insulating regime of disordered wires with strong spin-orbit scattering

We discuss the distribution of transmission eigenvalues in the strongly localized regime in the presence of both a magnetic field and spin--orbit scattering. We show that, under suitable conditions, this distribution can be described by a new universality class labelled not only by the index $\beta$ but also by a new index $\eta$. This result is obtained by mapping the problem into that of a suitable Calogero-Sutherland model.Comment: 4 pages, Revte