Published March 15, 2008 | Version v1
Journal article

Non-Abelian strings and the Luescher term

  • 1. William I. Fine Theoretical Physics Institute, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455 (United States)
  • 2. Institute of Theoretical and Experimental Physics, Moscow 117259 (Russian Federation)
  • 3. Petersburg Nuclear Physics Institute, Gatchina, St. Petersburg 188300 (Russian Federation)

Description

We calculate the Luescher term for recently suggested non-Abelian flux tubes (strings). The main feature of the non-Abelian strings is the presence of orientational zero modes associated with rotation of their color flux inside a non-Abelian subgroup. The Luescher term is determined by the number of light degrees of freedom on the string world sheet. Unlike the standard π/12 we get Nπ/12 for non-Abelian strings in the U(N) gauge theories. Thus, the Luescher coefficient acquires a dependence on the rank of the gauge group. In the models with non-Abelian strings discussed in the literature there are two distinct scales: the string tension ξ (the string thickness ∼ξ-1/2) and the dynamical scale of strong interactions Λ. At weak coupling ξ>>Λ2. The Luescher term for non-Abelian strings experiences a jump: at ξ-1/2<>Λ-1 the orientational moduli are frozen out and the Luescher coefficient approaches its ''Luescher'' value π/12. We raise the question of possible extra (i.e. nontranslational) light moduli on the world sheet of QCD strings at large N.

Additional details

Publishing Information

Journal Title
Physical Review. D, Particles Fields
Journal Volume
77
Journal Issue
6
Journal Page Range
p. 066008-066008.4
ISSN
0556-2821
CODEN
PRVDAQ

Optional Information

Notes
(c) 2008 The American Physical Society