1-form symmetry versus large N QCD

Abstract

We show that large N QCD does not have an emergent ${\mathbb{Z}}_N$ 1-form symmetry. Our results suggest that a symmetry-based understanding of (approximate) confinement in QCD would require some further generalization of the notion of generalized global symmetries.

38 pages, 10 figures. v2: extra reference, a couple of clarifications