The Center symmetry and its spontaneous breakdown at high temperatures

Abstract

We examine the role of the center Z(N) of the gauge group SU(N) in gauge theories. In this pedagogical article, we discuss, among other topics, the center symmetry and confinement and deconfinement in gauge theories and associated finite-temperature phase transitions. We also look at universal properties of domain walls separating distinct confined and deconfined bulk phases, including a description of how QCD color-flux strings can end on color-neutral domain walls, and unusual finite-volume dependence in which quarks in deconfined bulk phase seem to be "confined".

LaTex, 35 pages, 6 figures, uses sprocl.sty. To be published in the Festschrift in honor of B.L. Ioffe, "At the Frontier of Particle Physics/ Handbook of QCD", edited by M. Shifman

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• Another weak first order deconfinement transition: three-dimensional SU(5) gauge theory
• Generalized Potts-Models and their Relevance for Gauge Theories
• When is the deconfinement phase transition universal?
• Quantum fields in the non-perturbative regime - Yang-Mills theory and gravity