Confinement, gluon- and ghost propagators and the topological structure of lattice QCD in the vacuum and at finite temperature

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Michael Müller-Preußker (†)
• Subject Area: Nuclear and Elementary Particle Physics, Quantum Mechanics, Relativity, Fields
• Term: from 2002 to 2009
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 5469182

The purpose of the project is to pursue thorough investigations of the topological structure of lattice QCD emphasizing the effects of dynamical quarks. The cases of the ground state (T = 0) as well as of the thermal equilibrium at temperatures near the deconfinement and chiral phase transition (T = Tc) are studied and compared. The investigation will rely on large volume, zero-temperature gauge field configurations obtained by the Forschergruppe and those available, thanks to the collaboration with UKQCD. Additional less extensive Hybrid Monte Carlo simulations are required for the finite T-case. With respect to a semi-classical view of the QCD vacuum we are going to investigate the relevance of dissociated non-Abelian monopoles or calorons (van Baal solutions) in pure gauge theory and - at a later stage - in full QCD. With respect to an effective long-range description of non-perturbative QCD the Abelian and center degrees of freedom (monopoles and vortices) are studied in suitable gauges in order to understand their mutual relation and their correlation with semi-classical excitations as mentioned above. We shall focus on the local correlation of fermionic degrees of freedom with monopole and vortex excitations, the formation and breaking of flux tubes between static quarks and the computation of order parameters for the condensation of those topological excitations.

• DFG Programme: Research Units
• Subproject of: FOR 465: Lattice-Hadron Phenomenology