Statistical mechanical methods in particle structure analysis of lattice field theories: (III). Confinement and bound states in gauge theories

Abstract

In this paper, we develop some basic ideas and methods for the analysis of phase diagrams and particle structure in lattice gauge theory. We discuss the confinement-decomfinement transition and the particle structure in charged sectors of lattice gauge theories with matter fields, extending earlier results obtained by Fredenhagen and Marcu, and the authors themselves. We construct some basic tools for an analysis of the meson and baryon spectrum in lattice QCD and illustrate their workings on some simple models. We also discuss binding and unbinding of quarks and antiquarks in the deconfinement phase of lattice gauge theories with discrete gauge groups. Background for this paper may be found in two previous papers by the authors.