Interaction between solitons in gauge theories

A systematic method for obtaining asymptotic multisoliton solutions in gauge theories is given. These solutions are used to investigate the interaction between vortex lines in type-I and type-II superconductors, reproducing the known behavior. The application to QCD flux tubes and glueballs obtained from the long-range effective Lagrangian yield the following results: (1) No long-range Van der Waals--type forces exist between these solitons in spite of the fact that the Abelian force law obtained from this model is a linear potential; (2) the interactions between flux tubes and between flux tubes and anti-flux-tubes are identical, being repulsive at long range and strongly attractive at short range. This behavior differs sharply from the superconductor case, and results from the differences between the gauge groups SU(2) and U(1)