Speaker
Mendel Nguyen (Durham University, United Kingdom)
Date & Time
Thu, 13 November 2025, 15:30 to 17:00
Venue
Chern Lecture Hall
Resources
Abstract
Two competing pictures of the confinement mechanism in 3+1D non-abelian gauge theory have been the proliferation of center vortices and the proliferation of magnetic monopoles. In this talk, I will provide a unified and surprising picture of confinement, which clarifies some confusion in the literature concerning the role of vortices. In particular, I will argue that whereas the simultaneous proliferation of vortices and monopoles leads to the gapped confining phase, vortex proliferation without monopole proliferation leads instead to a gapless Coulomb phase.
Zoom link: https://icts-res-in.zoom.us/j/88092766911?pwd=R3ZrVk9yeW96ZmQ4ZG9KRzVhenRKZz09
Meeting ID: 880 9276 6911
Passcode: 232322