Hooft Loop Research Articles

Phase transitions at strong coupling in the 2+1-d abelian Higgs model

We study, using numerical Monte-Carlo simulations, an effective description of the 2+1 dimensional Abelian Higgs model which is valid at strong coupling, in the broken symmetry sector. In this limit, the massive gauge boson and the massive neutral Higgs decouple leaving only the massive vortices. The vortices have no long range interactions. We find a phase transition as the mass of the vortices is made lighter and lighter. At the transition, the contributions to the functional integral come from a so-called infinite vortex anti-vortex loop. Adding the Chern-Simons term simply counts the linking number between the vortices. We find that the Wilson loop exhibits perimeter law behaviour in both phases, although the polarization cloud increases by an order of magnitude at the transition. We also study the 't Hooft loop. We find the 't Hooft loop exhibits perimeter law behaviour in the presence of the Chern-Simons term but is trivial in its absence. Thus we have a theory with perimeter law for both the Wilson loop and the 't Hooft loop, but contains no massless particles.

Exact results in $ \mathcal{N}=2 $ gauge theories

We derive exact formulae for the partition function and the expectation values of Wilson/'t Hooft loops, thus directly checking their S-duality transformations. We focus on a special class of N=2 gauge theories on S^4 with fundamental matter. In particular we show that, for a specific choice of the masses, the matrix model integral defining the gauge theory partition function localizes around a finite set of critical points where it can be explicitly evaluated and written in terms of generalized hypergeometric functions. From the AGT perspective the gauge theory partition function, evaluated with this choice of masses, is viewed as a four point correlator involving the insertion of a degenerated field. The well known simplicity of the degenerated correlator reflects the fact that for these choices of masses only a very restrictive type of instanton configurations contributes to the gauge theory partition function.

Topological defects in CFT

Areview of the notion, properties and the use of topological defects in 2d conformal field theories is presented. An emphasis is made on the recent interpretation of such operators in non-rational theories, as describing Wilson-’t Hooft loop operators of N = 2 supersymmetric 4d topological theories.

Matrix model for deconfinement in aSU(2)gauge theory in2+1dimensions

We use matrix models to characterize deconfinement at a nonzero temperature T for an SU(2) gauge theory in three spacetime dimensions. At one loop order, the potential for a constant vector potential A0 is ~T^3 times a trilogarithm function of A0/T. In addition, we add various nonperturbative terms to model deconfinement. The parameters of the model are adjusted by fitting the lattice results for the pressure. The nonperturbative terms are dominated by a constant term ~T^2Td, where Td is the temperature for deconfinement. Besides this constant, we add terms which are nontrivial functions of A0/T, both ~T^2Td and ~TTd^2. There is only a mild sensitivity to the details of these nonconstant terms. Overall we find a good agreement with the lattice results. For the pressure, the conformal anomaly, and the Polyakov loop the nonconstant terms are relevant only in a narrow region below ~1.2Td. We also compute the 't Hooft loop, and find that the details of the nonconstant terms enter in a much wider region, up to ~4Td.

Roberge-Weiss transition and ’t Hooft loops

Roberge and Weiss showed that for $SU(N)$ gauge theories, phase transitions occur in the presence of an imaginary quark chemical potential. We show that at asymptotically high temperature, where the phase transition is of first order, that even with dynamical quarks 't Hooft loops of arbitrary $Z(N)$ charge are well defined at the phase boundary. To leading order in weak coupling, the 't Hooft loop satisfies Casimir scaling in the pure glue theory, but not with quarks. Because the chemical potential is imaginary, typically the interaction measure is negative on one side of the phase transition. Using a matrix model to model the deconfining phase transition, we compute the phase diagram for heavy quarks, in the plane of temperature and imaginary chemical potential. In general we find intersecting lines of first order transitions. Using a modified Polyakov loop which is Roberge-Weiss symmetric, we suggest that the interface tension is related to the 't Hooft loop only at high temperature, where the imaginary part of this Polyakov loop, and not the real part, is discontinuous across the phase boundary.

The 1/2 BPS ’t Hooft loops in SYM as instantons in 2D Yang–Mills

We extend the recent conjecture on the relation between a certain 1/8 BPS subsector of 4D SYM on S2 and 2D Yang–Mills theory by turning on circular 1/2 BPS ’t Hooft operators linked with S2. We show that localization predicts that these ’t Hooft operators and their correlation functions with Wilson operators on S2 are captured by instanton contributions to the partition function of the 2D Yang–Mills theory. Based on this prediction, we compute explicitly correlation functions involving the ’t Hooft operator, and observe precise agreement with S-duality predictions.

Effective matrix model for deconfinement in pure gauge theories

We construct matrix models for the deconfining phase transition in SU(N) gauge theories, without dynamical quarks, at a nonzero temperature T. We generalize models with zero and one free parameter to study a model with two free parameters: besides perturbative terms ~T^4, we introduce terms ~T^2 and ~T^0. The two N-dependent parameters are determined by fitting to data from numerical simulations on the lattice for the pressure, including the latent heat. Good agreement is found for the pressure in the semi-quark gluon plasma (QGP), which is the region from Tc, the critical temperature, to about ~4 Tc. Above ~1.2 Tc, the pressure is a sum of a perturbative term, ~ +T^4, and a simple non-perturbative term, essentially just a constant times ~ -Tc^2 T^2. For the pressure, the details of the matrix model only enter within a very narrow window, from Tc to ~1.2 Tc, whose width does not change significantly with N. Without further adjustment, the model also agrees well with lattice data for the 't Hooft loop. This is notable, because in contrast to the pressure, the 't Hooft loop is sensitive to the details of the matrix model over the entire semi-QGP. For the (renormalized) Polyakov loop, though, our results disagree sharply with those from the lattice. Matrix models provide a natural and generic explanation for why the deconfining phase transition in SU(N) gauge theories is of first order not just for three, but also for four or more colors. Lastly, we consider gauge theories where there is no strict order parameter for deconfinement, such as for a G(2) gauge group. To agree with lattice measurements, in the G(2) matrix model it is essential to add terms which generate complete eigenvalue repulsion in the confining phase.

More on ’t Hooft loops in $ \mathcal{N}=4 $ SYM

We study supersymmetric 't Hooft loop operators in N=4 super Yang-Mills, generalizing the well-known circular 1/2 BPS case and investigating their S-duality properties. We derive the BPS condition for a generic line operator describing pointlike monopoles and discuss its solutions in some particular case. In particular, we present the explicit construction of the magnetic counterpart of Zarembo and DGRT Wilson loops and provide the general dyonic configurations for an abelian gauge group. The quantum definition of these supersymmetric 't Hooft loop operators is carefully discussed and we attempt some computations to next-to-leading order in perturbation theory.

A note on perturbation series in supersymmetric gauge theories

Exact results in supersymmetric Chern-Simons and N=2 Yang-Mills theories can be used to examine the quantum behavior of observables and the structure of the perturbative series. For the U(2) x U(2) ABJM model, we determine the asymptotic behavior of the perturbative series for the partition function and write it as a Borel transform. Similar results are obtained for N=2 SU(2) super Yang-Mills theory with four fundamental flavors and in N=2* super Yang-Mills theory, for the partition function as well as for the expectation values for Wilson loop and 't Hooft loop operators (in the 0 and 1 instanton sectors). In all examples, one has an alternate perturbation series where the coefficient of the nth term increases as n!, and the perturbation series are Borel summable. We also calculate the expectation value for a Wilson loop operator in the N=2* SU(N) theory at large N in different regimes of the 't Hooft gauge coupling and mass parameter. For large masses, the calculation reproduces the running gauge coupling for the pure N=2 SYM theory.

Exact results for ’t Hooft loops in Gauge theories on S 4

Abstract The path integral of a general $\mathcal{N} = 2$ supersymmetric gauge theory on S 4 is exactly evaluated in the presence of a supersymmetric ’t Hooft loop operator. The result we find — obtained using localization techniques — captures all perturbative quantum corrections as well as non-perturbative effects due to instantons and monopoles, which are supported at the north pole, south pole and equator of S 4. As a by-product, our gauge theory calculations successfully confirm the predictions made for ’t Hooft loops obtained from the calculation of topological defect correlators in Liouville/Toda conformal field theory.

’t Hooft operators in gauge theory from Toda CFT

We construct loop operators in two dimensional Toda CFT and calculate with them the exact expectation value of certain supersymmetric 't Hooft and dyonic loop operators in four dimensional \Ncal=2 gauge theories with SU(N) gauge group. Explicit formulae for 't Hooft and dyonic operators in \Ncal=2^* and \Ncal=2 conformal SQCD with SU(N) gauge group are presented. We also briefly speculate on the Toda CFT realization of arbitrary loop operators in these gauge theories in terms of topological web operators in Toda CFT.

Quantum ’t Hooft Loops of SYM $${{\mathcal N}=4}$$ as Instantons of YM2 in Dual Groups SU(N) and SU(N)/ZN

A relation between circular 1/2 BPS ’t Hooft operators in 4d \({{\mathcal N}=4}\) SYM and instantonic solutions in 2D Yang-Mills theory (YM2) has recently been conjectured. Localization indeed predicts that those ’t Hooft operators in a theory with gauge group G are captured by instanton contributions to the partition function of YM2, belonging to representations of the dual group L G. This conjecture has been tested in the case G = U(N) = L G and for fundamental representations. In this paper, we examine this conjecture for the case of the groups G = SU(N) and L G = SU(N)/Z N and loops in different representations. Peculiarities when groups are not self-dual and representations not “minimal” are pointed out.

How wide is the transition to deconfinement?

Pure SU(3) glue theories exhibit a deconfining phase transition at a nonzero temperature, Tc. Using lattice measurements of the pressure, we develop a simple matrix model to describe the transition region, when T > Tc. This model, which involves three parameters, is used to compute the behavior of the 't Hooft loop. There is a Higgs phase in this region, where off diagonal color modes are heavy, and diagonal modes are light. Lattice measurements of the latter suggests that the transition region is narrow, extending only to about 1.2 Tc. This is in stark contrast to lattice measurements of the renormalized Polyakov loop, which indicates a much wider width. The possible implications for the differences in heavy ion collisions between RHIC and the LHC are discussed.

Phase transitions in a gas of anyons

We continue our numerical Monte Carlo simulation of a gas of closed loops on a 3 dimensional lattice, however, now in the presence of a topological term added to the action which corresponds to the total linking number between the loops. We compute the linking number using a novel approach employing certain notions from knot theory. Adding the topological term converts the particles into anyons. Interpreting the model as an effective theory that describes the $2+1$-dimensional Abelian Higgs model in the asymptotic strong-coupling regime, the topological linking number simply corresponds to the addition to the action of the Chern-Simons term. The system continues to exhibit a phase transition as a function of the vortex mass as it becomes small. We find the following new results. The Chern-Simons term has no effect on the Wilson loop. On the other hand, it does effect the 't Hooft loop of a given configuration, adding the linking number of the 't Hooft loop with all of the dynamical vortex loops. We find the unexpected result that both the Wilson loop and the 't Hooft loop exhibit a perimeter law even though there are no massless particles in the theory, in both phases of the theory. It should be noted that our method suffers from numerical instabilities if the coefficient of the Chern-Simons term is too large; thus, we have restricted our results to small values of this parameter. Furthermore, interpreting the lattice loop gas as an effective theory describing the Abelian Higgs model is only known to be true in the infinite coupling limit; for strong but finite coupling this correspondence is only a conjecture, the validity of which is beyond the scope of this article.

Gauge theory loop operators and Liouville theory

We propose a correspondence between loop operators in a family of four dimensional $$ \mathcal{N} $$ = 2 gauge theories on S 4 — including Wilson, ‘t Hooft and dyonic operators — and Liouville theory loop operators on a Riemann surface. This extends the beautiful relation between the partition function of these $$ \mathcal{N} $$ = 2 gauge theories and Liouville correlators found by Alday, Gaiotto and Tachikawa. We show that the computation of these Liouville correlators with the insertion of a Liouville loop operator reproduces Pestun’s formula capturing the expectation value of a Wilson loop operator in the corresponding gauge theory. We prove that our definition of Liouville loop operators is invariant under modular transformations, which given our correspondence, implies the conjectured action of S-duality on the gauge theory loop operators. Our computations in Liouville theory make an explicit prediction for the exact expectation value of ’t Hooft and dyonic loop operators in these $$ \mathcal{N} $$ = 2 gauge theories. The Liouville loop operators are also found to admit a simple geometric interpretation within quantum Teichmüller theory as the quantum operators representing the length of geodesics. We study the algebra of Liouville loop operators and show that it gives evidence for our proposal as well as providing definite predictions for the operator product expansion of loop operators in gauge theory.

Wilson loops stability in the gauge/string correspondence

We study the stability of some classical string worldsheet solutions employed for computing the potential energy between two static fundamental quarks in confining and non-confining gravity duals. We discuss the fixing of the diffeomorphism invariance of the string action, its relation with the fluctuation orientation and the interpretation of the quark mass substraction worldsheet needed for computing the potential energy in smooth (confining) gravity background. We consider various dual gravity backgrounds and show by a numerical analysis the existence of instabilities under linear fluctuations for classical string embedding solutions having positive length function derivative $L'(r_0)>0$. Finally we make a brief discussion of 't Hooft loops in non-conformal backgrounds.

Another method to compute the thermodynamic Casimir force in lattice models

We discuss a method that allows us to compute the thermodynamic Casimir force at a given temperature in lattice models by performing a single Monte Carlo simulation. It is analogous to the one used by de Forcrand and co-workers in the study of 't Hooft loops and the interface tension in SU(N) lattice gauge models in four dimensions. We test the method at the example of thin films in the XY universality class. In particular we simulate the improved two-component phi4 model on the simple cubic lattice. This allows us to compare with our previous study, where we have computed the Casimir force by numerically integrating energy densities over the inverse temperature.

Towards a theory of the semi-Quark Gluon Plasma

I give a general overview of the theory of the Quark-Gluon Plasma (QGP) about the temperature for deconfinement, where the theory is only partially deconfined. I review three topics relevant to study of such a “semi”-QGP. The first is the semi-classical computation of the spatial 't Hooft loop. This is equivalent to computing the interface tension between two Z(N) domains, and indicates how the confined phase is approached from high temperature. The second topic is effective matrix models of Polyakov loops. The last topic is the computation of hard thermal loops in the presence of a spatial 't Hooft loop, as a way of probing the real time properties of the semi-QGP.

On confinement index

The smallest integer t for which the Wilson loop W t fails to exhibit area law is known as the confinement index of a given field theory. The confinement index provides us with subtle information on the vacuum properties of the system. We study the behavior of the Wilson and 't Hooft loops and compute the confinement index in a wide class of N = 1 supersymmetric gauge theories. All possible electric and magnetic screenings are taken into account. The results found are consistent with the θ periodicity, and whenever such a check is available, with the factorization property of Seiberg–Witten curves.

S-duality, 't Hooft operators and the operator product expansion

We study S-duality in N=4 super Yang-Mills with an arbitrary gauge group by determining the operator product expansion of the circular BPS Wilson and 't Hooft loop operators. The coefficients in the expansion of an 't Hooft loop operator for chiral primary operators and the stress-energy tensor are calculated in perturbation theory using the quantum path-integral definition of the 't Hooft operator recently proposed. The corresponding operator product coefficients for the dual Wilson loop operator are determined in the strong coupling expansion. The results for the 't Hooft operator in the weak coupling expansion exactly reproduce those for the dual Wilson loop operator in the strong coupling expansion, thereby demonstrating the quantitative prediction of S-duality for these observables.