Some universal properties of the string breaking

Abstract

In gauge systems coupled to matter, the static potential flattens out at a scale where the confining string breaks by formation of a dynamical pair of particles. Surprisingly, such a breaking is invisible in Wilson loops even when the inter-charge separation is much larger than the flattening scale. Observing string breaking also requires using different operators. A known string mechanism provides us with a simple explanation, leading to the area law for large Wilson loops, as observed in most gauge models coupled to whatever kind of matter. It is also pointed out that in a simple 3D Z_2 gauge-Higgs model, once reformulated in terms of Fortuin Kasteleyn clusters, this peculiar behaviour of the Wilson operator can be ascribed to non-trivial linking of a percolating cluster to the Wilson loop. Some numerical tests on this model are also presented.

lattice 2000 (Confinement and strings) 4 pages, 1 figure

References in corpus (1)

• Adjoint string breaking in 4d SU(2) Yang-Mills theory

Cited by in corpus (4)

• Overlap of the Wilson loop with the broken-string state
• The phase diagram of the three-dimensional Z2 gauge Higgs system at zero and finite temperature
• Monopole clusters, center vortices, and confinement in a Z(2) gauge-Higgs system
• The functional form of open Wilson lines in gauge theories coupled to matter