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We study the strong-interaction dynamics of a class of $4D$ chiral $SU(N)$ gauge theories with a fermion in a symmetric second-rank tensor representation and a number of fermions in an anti-antisymmetric tensor representation, extending the previous work on chiral gauge theories such as the Bars-Yankielowicz and the generalized Georgi-Glashow models. The main tool of our analysis is the anomalies obstructing the gauging of certain 1-form color-flavor-locked center symmetry, together with some flavor symmetries. The matching requirement for these mixed-anomalies strongly favors dynamical Higgs phases caused by bifermion condensate formation, against a confinement phase with no condensates and no symmetry breaking, or a confinement phase with multifermion color-singlet condensates only. Dynamical gauge symmetry breaking and the spontaneous breaking of a $U(1)$ symmetry caused by such condensates mean that the color-flavor-locked 1-form center symmetry itself is lost in the infrared. One is led to a solution, if not unique, which satisfies fully the conventional as well as the new, generalized 't Hooft anomaly matching requirements., Comment: 26 pages

In a large class of chiral gauge theories in four dimensions it was found that certain natural assumption about the bifermion condensates leads to the infrared effective theory where the 't Hooft anomaly matching conditions are satisfied in an entirely evident fashion, without need of verifying arithmetic equations. This is due to the fact that in these systems, characterized by dynamical color (and flavor) symmetry breaking, the quantum numbers and multiplicities of the low-energy massless fermions match exactly those of the fermions in the UV theory which do not condense and remain massless, with respect to the unbroken symmetries. This means also that the stronger constraints following from the matching request of mixed anomalies involving certain generalized 1-form center symmetries, as well as some global anomalies such as Witten's $SU(2)$ anomaly, are all fully satisfied. It is the aim of this note to clarify better the working of this phenomenon (which we call Natural Anomaly Matching), correct some earlier statements made about it, and illustrate it further with a few new examples., Comment: 20 pages

Quantum states of a spin $1/2$ (a qubit) are parametrized by the space $CP^1 \sim S^2$, the Bloch sphere. A spin j (a 2j+1 -state system) for generic j is represented instead by a point of a larger space, $CP^{2j}$. Here we study the angular momentum/spin in the limit, $j \to \infty$. The state, $(J \cdot n) | j, n\rangle = j |j, n \rangle $, where $J$ is the angular momentum operator and $n$ stands for a generic unit vector in $R^3$, is found to behave as a classical angular momentum, $ j n $. We discuss this phenomenon, by analysing the Stern-Gerlach experiments, the angular-momentum composition rule, and the rotation matrix. This problem arose from the consideration of a macroscopic body under an inhomogeneous magnetic field. Our observations help to explain how classical mechanics (with unique particle trajectories) emerges naturally from quantum mechanics in this context, and at the same time, make the widespread idea that large spins somehow become classical, a more precise one., Comment: 19 pages, 5 figures

We review recent developments in our understanding of the dynamics of strongly-coupled chiral $SU(N)$ gauge theories in four dimensions, problems which are potentially important in our quest to go beyond the standard $SU(3)_{QCD} \times (SU(2) \times U(1))_{GWS}$ model of the fundamental interactions. The generalized symmetries and associated new 't Hooft anomaly-matching constraints allow us to exclude, in a wide class of chiral gauge theories, confining vacuum with full flavor symmetries supported by a set of color-singlet massless composite fermions. The color-flavor-locked dynamical Higgs phase, dynamical Abelianization or more general symmetry breaking phase, appear as plausible IR dynamics, depending on the massless matter fermions present. We revisit and discuss critically several well-known confinement criteria in the literature, for both chiral and vectorlike gauge theories, and propose tentative, new criteria for discriminating different phases. Finally, we review an idea which might sound rather surprising at first, but is indeed realized in some softly-broken supersymmetric theories, that confinement in QCD is a small deformation (in the IR end of the renormalization-group flow) of a strongly-coupled, nonlocal, nonAbelian conformal fixed point., Comment: 33 pages, 6 figures, Contribution to Corfu Summer Insitute, 2023

The concept of {\it quantum ratio} emerged in the recent efforts to understand how Newton's equations appear for the center of mass (CM) of an isolated macroscopic body at finite body-temperatures, as the first approximation to quantum-mechanical equations. It is defined as $Q\equiv R_q/L_0$, where the quantum fluctuation range $R_q$ is the spatial extension of the pure-state CM wave function, whereas $L_0$ stands for the body's linear size (the space support of the internal, bound-state wave function). The two cases $R_q /L_0 \lesssim 1$ or $R_q/ L_0 \gg 1$, roughly correspond to the body's CM behaving classically or quantum mechanically, respectively. In the present note we elaborate more on this concept, illustrating it in several examples. An important notion following from introduction of the quantum ratio is that the elementary particles (thus the electron and the photon) are quantum mechanical, even when the environment-induced decoherence turns them into a mixed state. Decoherence and classical state should not be identified. This simple observation, further illustrated by the consideration of a few atomic or molecular processes, may have significant implications on the way quantum mechanics works in biological systems., Comment: 34 pages, 8 figures

We comment on the so-called negative-result experiments (also known as null measurements, interaction-free measurements, and so on) in quantum mechanics (QM), in the light of the new general understanding of the quantum-measurement processes, proposed recently. All experiments of this kind (null-measurements) can be understood as improper measurements with an intentionally biased detector set up, which introduces exclusion or selection of certain events. The prediction on the state of a microscopic system under study based on a null measurement, is sometimes dramatically described as ``wave-function collapse without any microsystem-detector interactions". Though certainly correct, such a prediction is just a consequence of the standard QM laws, not different from the situation in the so-called state-preparation procedure. Another closely related concept is the (first-class or) repeatable measurements. The verification of the prediction made by a null-measurement requires eventually a standard unbiased measurement involving the microsystem-macroscopic detector interactions, which are nonadiabatic, irreversible processes of signal amplification., Comment: 18 pages, 3 figures

We revisit the simplest Bars-Yankielowicz (BY) model (the $\psi\eta$ model), starting from a model with an additional Dirac pair of fermions in the fundamental representation, together with a complex color-singlet scalar $\phi$ coupled to them through a Yukawa interaction. This model possesses a color-flavor-locked 1-form ${\Bbb Z}_N$ symmetry, due to the intersection of the color $SU(N)$ and two nonanomalous $U(1)$ groups. In the bulk, the model reduces to the $\psi\eta$ model studied earlier when $\phi$ acquires a nonzero vacuum expectation value and the extra fermions pair up, get massive and decouple (thus we will call our extended theory as the ``X-ray model"), while it provides a regularization of the $\Bbb Z_2$ fluxes needed to study the $\Bbb Z_2$ anomaly. The anomalies involving the 1-form ${\Bbb Z}_N$ symmetry reduce, for $N$ even, exactly to the mixed ${\Bbb Z}_2$ anomaly found earlier in the $\psi\eta$ model. The present work is a first significant step to clarify the meaning of the mixed ${\Bbb Z}_2-[{\Bbb Z}_N^{(1)}]^2$ anomaly found in the $\psi\eta$ and in other BY and Georgi-Glashow type $SU(N)$ models with even $N$., Comment: 26 pages

We study the dynamics of $SU(N)$ chiral gauge theories with massless fermions belonging to various combinations of the symmetric, antisymmetric or fundamental representations. We limit ourselves to the gauge-anomaly-free and asymptotically free systems. 't Hooft anomaly-matching conditions severely limit the possible RG flows. In vectorlike theories such as the quantum chromodynamics, gauge-invariant ``quark-antiquark" condensates form and characterize the IR dynamics, and the anomaly matching involves the Nambu-Goldstone bosons. In some other special cases, such as the Bars-Yankielowicz (BY) or Georgi-Glashow (GG) models, a hypothetical solution was proposed in the literature, with no global symmetry breaking and with some simple set of composite massless fermions saturating all the anomalies. For the BY and GG systems, actually, a more plausible candidate for their IR physics is the dynamical Higgs phase, with a few simple bi-fermion color-flavor locked condensates, breaking the color and flavor symmetries, partially or totally. Remarkably, the 't Hooft anomaly-matching (and generalized anomaly-matching) conditions are automatically satisfied in this phase. Another interesting possibility, occurring in some chiral gauge theories, is dynamical Abelianization, familiar from ${\cal N}=2$ supersymmetric gauge theories. We explore here even more general types of possible IR phases than the ones mentioned above, for wider classes of models. With the help of large-N arguments we look for IR free theories, whereas the MAC (maximal attractive channel) criterion might suggest some simple bi-fermion condensates characterizing the IR dynamics of the systems. In many cases the low-energy effective theories are found to be described by quiver-like gauge theories, some of the (nonAbelian) gauge groups are infrared-free while some others might be asymptotically free., Comment: 33 pages, 6 figures, proceeding for the conference AQFTCS 2022

The so-called quantum measurement problems are solved from a new perspective. One of the main observations is that the basic entities of our world are {\it particles}, elementary or composite. It follows that each elementary process, hence each measurement process at its core, is a spacetime, pointlike, event. Another key idea is that, when a microsystem $\psi$ gets into contact with the experimental device, factorization of $\psi$ rapidly fails and entangled mixed states appear. The wave functions for the microsystem-apparatus coupled system for different measurement outcomes then lack overlapping spacetime support. It means that the aftermath of each measurement is a single term in the sum: a ``wave-function collapse". Our discussion leading to a diagonal density matrix, $\rho= {\rm diag} ( |c_1|^2, \ldots, |c_n|^2, \ldots )$ shows how the information encoded in the wave function $|\psi\rangle = \sum_n c_n | n \rangle $ gets transcribed, via entanglement with the experimental device and environment, into the relative frequencies ${\cal P}_n = |c_n|^2$ for various experimental outcomes $F=f_n$. Our discussion represents the first, significant steps towards filling in the logical gaps in the conventional interpretation based on Born's rule, replacing it with a clearer understanding of quantum mechanics. Accepting objective reality of quantum fluctuations, independent of any experiments, and independently of human presence, one renounces the idea that in a fundamental, complete theory of Nature the result of each single experiment must necessarily be predictable., Comment: 23 pages, 4 figures. arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:2111.14723

Newton's force law $\frac{d {\bf P}}{dt} = {\bf F}$ is derived from the Schr\"odinger equation for isolated macroscopic bodies, composite states of e.g., $N\sim 10^{25}, 10^{51}, \ldots$ atoms and molecules, at finite body temperatures. We first review three aspects of quantum mechanics (QM) in this context: (i) Heisenberg's uncertainty relations for their center of mass (CM), (ii) the diffusion of the C.M. wave packet, and (iii) a finite body-temperature which implies a metastable (mixed-) state of the body: photon emissions and self-decoherence. They explain the origin of the classical trajectory for a macroscopic body. The ratio between the range $R_q$ over which the quantum fluctuations of its CM are effective, and the body's (linear) size $L_0$, $R_q /L_0 \lesssim 1$ or $R_q/ L_0 \gg 1$, tells whether the body's CM behaves classically or quantum mechanically, respectively. In the first case, Newton's force law for its CM follows from the Ehrenfest theorem. We illustrate this for weak gravitational forces, a harmonic-oscillator potential, and for constant external electromagnetic fields slowly varying in space. The derivation of the canonical Hamilton equations for many-body systems is also discussed. Effects due to the body's finite size such as the gravitational tidal forces appear in perturbation theory. Our work is consistent with the well-known idea that the emergence of classical physics in QM is due to the environment-induced decoherence, but complements and completes it, by clarifying the conditions under which Newton's equations follow from QM, and by deriving them explicitly., Comment: 53 pages, 6 figures

We explore the idea that in some class of strongly-coupled chiral $SU(N)$ gauge theories the infrared dynamics might be characterized by a bifermion condensate in the adjoint representation of the color gauge group. As an illustration, in this work we revisit an $SU(N)$ chiral gauge theory with Weyl fermions in a symmetric ($\psi$) and anti-antisymmetric ($\chi$) tensor representations, together with eight fermions in the anti-fundamental representations ($\eta$), which we called $\psi\chi\eta$ model in the previous investigations. We study the infrared dynamics of this system more carefully, by assuming dynamical Abelianization, a phenomenon familiar from ${\cal N}=2$ supersymmetric gauge theories, and by analyzing the way various continuous and discrete symmetries are realized at low energies. We submit then these ideas to a more stringent test, by taking into account some higher-form symmetries and the consequent mixed anomalies. A detailed analysis of the mixed anomalies involving certain $0$-form $U(1)$ symmetries and the color-flavor locked $1$-form $Z_N$ symmetry in the $\psi\chi\eta$ system shows that the proposed infrared dynamics is consistent with it., Comment: 29 pages, 1 figure

The quantum measurement problems are revisited from a new perspective. One of the main ideas of this work is that the basic entities of our world are various types of particles, elementary or composite. It follows that each elementary process, hence each measurement process at its core, is a spacetime, pointlike, event. Another key idea is that, when a microsystem $\psi$ gets into contact with the experimental device, factorization of $\psi$ rapidly fails and entangled mixed states appear. The wave functions for the microsystem-apparatus coupled systems for different measurement outcomes then lack overlapping spacetime support. It means that the aftermath of each measurement is a single term in the sum: a "wave-function collapse". Our discussion leading to a diagonal density matrix, $\rho= {\rm diag} ( |c_1|^2, \ldots, |c_n|^2, \ldots )$ shows how the information encoded in the wave function $|\psi\rangle = \sum_n c_n | n \rangle$ gets transcribed, via entanglement with the experimental device and environment, into the relative frequencies ${\cal P}_n = |c_n|^2$ for various experimental results $F=f_n$. These results represent new, significant steps towards filling in the logical gaps in the standard interpretation based on Born's rule, and replacing it with a more natural one. Accepting objective reality of quantum fluctuations, independent of any experiments, and independently of human presence, one renounces the idea that in a fundamental, complete theory of Nature the result of each single experiment must necessarily be predictable. A few well-known puzzles such as the Schr\"odinger cat conundrum and the EPR paradox are briefly reviewed: they can all be naturally explained away., Comment: 44 pages, 2 figures

After many years of investigations, our understanding of the dynamics of strongly-coupled chiral gauge theories is still quite unsatisfactory today. Conventional wisdom about strongly-coupled gauge theories, successfully applied to QCD, is not always as useful in chiral gauge theories. Recently some new ideas and techniques have been developed, which involve concepts of generalized symmetries, of gauging a discrete center symmetry, and of generalizing the 't Hooft anomaly matching constraints to include certain mixed symmetries. This new development has been applied to chiral gauge theories, leading to many interesting, sometimes quite unexpected, results. For instance, in the context of generalized Bars-Yankielowicz and generalized Georgi-Glashow models, these new types of anomalies give a rather clear indication in favor of the dynamical Higgs phase, against confining, flavor symmetric vacua. Another closely related topics is strong anomaly and the effective low-energy action representing it. It turns out that they have significant implications on the phase of chiral gauge theories, giving indications consistent with the findings based on the generalized anomalies. Some striking analogies and contrasts between the massless QCD and chiral gauge theories seem to emerge from these discussions. The aim of this work is to review these developments., Comment: 64 pages

We present a simple argument which seems to favor, when applied to a large class of strongly-coupled chiral gauge theories, a dynamical-Higgs-phase scenario, characterized by certain bifermion condensates. Flavor symmetric confining vacua described in the infrared by a set of baryonlike massless composite fermions saturating the conventional 't Hooft anomaly matching equations, appear instead disfavored. Our basic criterion is that it should be possible to write a strong-anomaly effective action, analogous to the one used in QCD to describe the solution of the $U(1)_A$ problem in the low-energy effective action, by using the low-energy degrees of freedom in the hypothesized infrared theory. We also comment on some well-known ideas such as the complementarity and the large $N$ planar dominance in the context of these chiral gauge theories.Some striking analogies and contrasts between the massless QCD and chiral gauge theories seem to emerge from this discussion., Comment: 43 pages, 2 figures

We study symmetries and dynamics of chiral $SU(N)$ gauge theories with matter Weyl fermions in a two-index symmetric ($\psi$) or anti-symmetric tensor ($\chi$) representation, together with $N \pm 4 + p $ fermions in the anti-fundamental ($\eta$) and $p$ fermions in the fundamental ($\xi$) representations. They are known as the Bars-Yankielowicz (the former) and the generalized Georgi-Glashow models (the latter). The conventional 't Hooft anomaly matching algorithm is known to allow a confining, chirally symmetric vacuum in all these models, with a simple set of massless baryonlike composite fermions describing the infrared physics. We analyzed recently one of these models ($\psi\eta$ model), by applying the ideas of generalized symmetries and the consequent, stronger constraints involving certain mixed anomalies, finding that the confining, chirally symmetric, vacuum is actually inconsistent. In the present paper this result is extended to a wider class of the Bars-Yankielowicz and the generalized Georgi-Glashow models. It is shown that for all these models with $N$ and $p$ both even, at least, the generalized anomaly matching requirement forbids the persistence of the full chiral symmetries in the infrared if the system confines. The most natural and consistent possibility is that some bifermion condensates form, breaking the color gauge symmetry dynamically, together with part of the global symmetry., Comment: 43 pages, 3 figures

The symmetries and dynamics of simple chiral $SU(N)$ gauge theories, with matter Weyl fermions in a two-index symmetric tensor and $N+4$ anti-fundamental representations, are examined, by taking advantage of the recent developments involving the ideas of generalized symmetries, gauging of discrete center 1-form symmetries and mixed 't Hooft anomalies. This class of models are particularly interesting because the conventional 't Hooft anomaly matching constraints allow a chirally symmetric confining vacuum, with no condensates breaking the $U(1) \times SU(N+4)$ flavor symmetry, and with certain set of massless baryonlike composite fermions saturating all the associated anomaly triangles. Our calculations show that in such a vacuum the UV-IR matching of some $0$-form$-$$1$-form mixed 't Hooft anomalies fails. This implies, for the theories with even $N$ at least, that a chirally symmetric confining vacuum contemplated earlier in the literature actually cannot be realized dynamically. In contrast, a Higgs phase characterized by some gauge-noninvariant bifermion condensates passes our improved scrutiny., Comment: Latex 34 pages, 3 figures

Consequences of gauging exact $Z_k^C$ center symmetries in several simple $SU(N)$ gauge theories, where $k$ is a divisor of $N$, are investigated. Models discussed include: the $SU(N)$ gauge theory with $N_f$ copies of Weyl fermions in self-adjoint single-column antisymmetric representation, the well-discussed adjoint QCD, QCD-like theories in which the quarks are in a two-index representation of $SU(N)$, and a chiral $SU(N)$ theory with fermions in the symmetric as well as in anti-antisymmetric representations but without fundamentals. Mixed 't Hooft anomalies between the 1-form $Z_k^C$ symmetry and some 0-form (standard) discrete symmetry provide us with useful information about the infrared dynamics of the system. In some cases they give decisive indication to select only few possiblities for the infrared phase of the theory., Comment: 39 pages

Dynamics and symmetry realization in various chiral gauge theories in four dimensions are investigated, generalizing a recent work by M. Shifman and the present authors, by relying on the standard 't Hooft anomaly matching conditions and on some other general ideas. These requirements are so strong that the dynamics of the systems are severely constrained. Color-flavor or color-flavor-flavor locking, dynamical Abelianization, and combinations of these, are powerful ideas which often leads to solutions of the anomaly matching conditions. Moreover, a conjecture is made on generation of a mass hierarchy associated with symmetry breaking in chiral gauge theories, which has no analogues in vector-like gauge theories such as QCD., Comment: 41 pages, 1 figure

In this paper we examine analytically the large-$N$ gap equation and its solution for the $2D$ $\mathbb{CP}^{N-1}$ sigma model defined on a Euclidean spacetime torus of arbitrary shape and size ($L, \beta)$, $\beta$ being the inverse temperature. We find that the system has a unique homogeneous phase, with the $\mathbb{CP}^{N-1}$ fields $n_i$ acquiring a dynamically generated mass $\langle\lambda\rangle\ge\Lambda^2$ (analogous to the mass gap of $SU(N)$ Yang-Mills theory in $4D$), for any $\beta$ and $L$. Several related topics in the recent literature are discussed. One concerns the possibility, which turns out to be excluded according to our analysis, of a "Higgs-like" - or deconfinement - phase at small $L$ and at zero temperature. Another topics involves "soliton-like (inhomogeneous) solutions of the generalized gap equation, which we do not find. A related question concerns a possible instability of the standard $\mathbb{CP}^{N-1}$ vacuum on ${\mathbb{R}}^{2}$, which is shown not to occur. In all cases, the difference in the conclusions can be traced to the existence of certain zeromodes and their proper treatment. The $\mathbb{CP}^{N-1}$ model with twisted boundary conditions is also analyzed. The $\theta$ dependence and different limits involving $N$, $\beta$ and $L$ are briefly discussed., Comment: 40 pages, 4 figures

Deep insights into the possible infrared dynamics of strongly-coupled nonAbelian gauge theories such as QCD come from the analyses of ${\cal N}=1$ or ${\cal N}=2$ supersymmetric gauge theories. Central in the whole discussion will be the topological soliton monopoles and vortices and their quantum dynamics. We review the arguments that nonAbelian monopoles, free from the classic "difficulties", can be defined semi-classically via the topology and stability connection to the better understood nonAbelian vortices. Recent results on $CP^{N-1}$ models on $2D$ worldsheet of finite width, establish the quantum mechanical nature of such nonAbelian monopoles. An interesting class of RG flows and emergence of confining vacua "nearby" strongly-coupled infrared-fixed point (IRFP) conformal theories are discussed in the context of most singular vacua in ${\cal N}=2$ supersymmetric QCD. Certain analogy with the real-world QCD is drawn. In many systems, color-flavor locking emerges as a crucial mechanism for the gauge system to avoid dynamical Abelianization., Comment: 35 pages, 10 figures

This is the third of the series of articles on the large-$N$ two-dimensional $\mathbb{CP}^{N-1}$ sigma model, defined on a finite space interval $L$ with Dirichlet boundary conditions. Here the cases of the general Dirichlet boundary conditions are studied, where the relative $\mathbb{CP}^{N-1}$ orientations at the two boundaries are generic, and numerical solutions are presented. Distinctive features of the $\mathbb{CP}^{N-1}$ sigma model, as compared e.g., to an $O(N)$ model, which were not entirely evident in the basic properties studied in the first two articles in the large $N$ limit, manifest themselves here. It is found that the total energy is minimized when the fields are aligned in the same direction at the two boundaries., Comment: Latex, 19 figures

We consider $SU(N)$ Yang-Mills theory with massless chiral fermions in a complex representation of the gauge group. The main emphasis is on the so-called hybrid psi-chi-eta model. The possible patterns of realization of the continuous chiral flavor symmetry are discussed. We argue that the chiral symmetry is broken in conjunction with a dynamical Higgsing of the gauge group (complete or partial) by bi-fermion condensates. As a result a color-flavor locked symmetry is preserved. The 't Hooft anomaly matching proceeds via saturation of triangles by massless composite fermions or, in a mixed mode, i.e., also by the "weakly" coupled fermions associated with dynamical Abelianization, supplemented by a number of Nambu-Goldstone mesons. Gauge-singlet condensates are of the multifermion type and, though it cannot be excluded, the chiral symmetry realization via such gauge invariant condensates is more contrived (requires a number of four-fermion condensates simultaneously and, even so, problems remain), and less plausible. We conclude that in the model at hand, chiral flavor symmetry implies dynamical Higgsing by bifermion condensates., Comment: Latex 19 pages, 1 figure

We continue the analysis started in a recent paper of the large-N two-dimensional CP(N-1) sigma model, defined on a finite space interval L with Dirichlet (or Neumann) boundary conditions. Here we focus our attention on the problem of the renormalized energy density $\mathcal{E}(x,\Lambda,L)$ which is found to be a sum of two terms, a constant term coming from the sum over modes, and a term proportional to the mass gap. The approach to $\mathcal{E}(x,\Lambda,L)\to\tfrac{N}{4\pi}\Lambda^2$ at large $L\Lambda$ is shown, both analytically and numerically, to be exponential: no power corrections are present and in particular no L\"uscher term appears. This is consistent with the earlier result which states that the system has a unique massive phase, which interpolates smoothly between the classical weakly-coupled limit for $L\Lambda\to 0$ and the "confined" phase of the standard CP(N-1) model in two dimensions for $L\Lambda\to\infty$., Comment: LaTeX: 32 pages, 11 figures; V2: appendices E and F added and typos corrected; V3: grant information added

Quark confinement is proposed to be a dual Meissner effect of nonAbelian kind. Important hints come from physics of strongly-coupled infrared-fixed-point theories in N=2 supersymmetric QCD, which turn into confining vacua under a small relevant perturbation. The quest for the semiclassical origin of the nonAbelian monopoles, ubiquitous as the infrared degrees of freedom in supersymmetric gauge theories, motivates us to study the quantum dynamics of 2D CP(N-1)model defined on a finite-width worldstrip, with various boundary conditions. The model is found to possess a unique phase ("confinement phase"), independent of the length of the string, showing the quantum persistence of the nonAbelian monopole., Comment: Latex 14 pages 4 figures

We analyze the two-dimensional CP(N-1) sigma model defined on a finite space interval L, with various boundary conditions, in the large N limit. With the Dirichlet boundary condition at the both ends, we show that the system has a unique phase, which smoothly approaches in the large L limit the standard 2D CP(N-1) sigma model in confinement phase, with a constant mass generated for the n(i) fields. We study the full functional saddle-point equations for finite L, and solve them numerically. The latter reduces to the well-known gap equation in the large L limit. It is found that the solution satisfies actually both the Dirichlet and Neumann conditions., Comment: LaTex 22 pages, 6 figures

Geometric and dynamical aspects of a coupled 4D-2D interacting quantum field theory - the gauged nonAbelian vortex - are investigated. The fluctuations of the internal 2D nonAbelian vortex zeromodes excite the massless 4D Yang-Mills modes and in general give rise to divergent energies. This means that the well-known 2D CP(N-1) zeromodes associated with a nonAbelian vortex become nonnormalizable. Moreover, all sorts of global, topological 4D effects such as the nonAbelian Aharonov-Bohm effect come into play. These topological global features and the dynamical properties associated with the fluctuation of the 2D vortex moduli modes are intimately correlated, as shown concretely here in a U(1) x SU(N) x SU(N) model with scalar fields in a bifundamental representation of the two SU(N) factor gauge groups., Comment: Latex, 39 pages, 5 figures

We revisit the study of singular points in the Coulomb branch of $\mathcal{N}=2$ SQCD in four dimensions with gauge group $SU(N)$ and odd number of flavors. For certain choices of the mass parameters these vacua are not lifted by a mass term for the chiral multiplet in the adjoint representation. By using recent results about the M5 brane description of $\mathcal{N}=1$ theories we study the resulting vacua and argue that the low-energy effective theory has a simple Lagrangian description involving a free chiral multiplet in the adjoint representation of the flavor symmetry group, a system somewhat reminiscent of the standard low-energy pion description of the real-world QCD. This fact is quite remarkable in view of the fact that the underlying $\mathcal{N}=2$ SCFT (the Argyres-Douglas systems) are strongly-coupled non-local theories of quarks and monopoles., Comment: 29 pages, 1 figure; v2: minor changes

Remarkable simplification arises from considering vortex equations in the large winding limit. This was recently used in [1] to display all sorts of vortex zeromodes, the orientational, translational, fermionic as well as semi-local, and to relate them to the apparently distinct phenomena of the Nielsen-Olesen-Ambjorn magnetic instabilities. Here we extend these analyses to more general types of BPS nonAbelian vortices, taking as a prototype a system with gauged U(1) x SU(N) x SU(N) symmetry where the VEV of charged scalar fields in the bifundamental representation breaks the symmetry to SU(N)_{l+r} . The presence of the massless SU(N)_{l+r} gauge fields in 4D bulk introduces all sorts of non-local, topological phenomena such as the nonAbelian Aharonov-Bohm effects, which in the theory with global SU(N)_r group (g_r=0) are washed away by the strongly fluctuating orientational zeromodes in the worldsheet. Physics changes qualitatively at the moment the right gauge coupling constant g_r is turned on., Comment: 31 pages, 4 figures

In the large flux limit vortices become flux tubes with almost constant magnetic field in the interior region. This occurs in the case of non-Abelian vortices as well, and the study of such configurations allows us to reveal a close relationship between vortex zero modes and the gyromagnetic instabilities of vector bosons in a strong background magnetic field discovered by Nielsen, Olesen and Ambj{\o}rn. The BPS vortices are exactly at the onset of this instability, and the dimension of their moduli space is precisely reproduced in this way. We present a unifying picture in which, through the study of the linear spectrum of scalars, fermions and W bosons in the magnetic field background, the expected number of translational, orientational, fermionic as well as semilocal zero modes is correctly reproduced in all cases., Comment: 22 pages, 10 figures

We discuss the large-distance approximation of the monopole-vortex complex soliton in a hierarchically broken gauge system, SU(N+1) - > SU(N) x U(1) - > 1, in a color-flavor locked SU(N) symmetric vacuum. The ('t Hooft-Polyakov) monopole of the higher-mass-scale breaking appears as a point and acts as a source of the thin vortex generated by the lower-energy gauge symmetry breaking. The exact color-flavor diagonal symmetry of the bulk system is broken by each individual soliton, leading to nonAbelian orientational CP^{N-1} zeromodes propagating in the vortex worldsheet, well studied in the literature. But since the vortex ends at the monopoles these fluctuating modes endow the monopoles with a local SU(N) charge. This phenomenon is studied by performing the duality transformation in the presence of the CP^{N-1} moduli space. The effective action is a CP^{N-1} model defined on a finite-width worldstrip., Comment: 36 pages, 4 figures

The interplay of gauge dynamics and flavor symmetries often leads to remarkably subtle phenomena in the presence of soliton configurations. Non-Abelian vortices -- vortex solutions with continuous internal orientational moduli -- provide an example. Here we study the effect of weakly gauging a U(1)_R subgroup of the flavor symmetry on such BPS vortex solutions. Our prototypical setting consists of an SU(2) x U(1) gauge theory with N_f=2 sets of fundamental scalars that break the gauge symmetry to an "electromagnetic" U(1). The weak U(1)_R gauging converts the well-known CP1 orientation modulus |B| of the non-Abelian vortex into a parameter characterizing the strength of the magnetic field that is responsible for the Aharonov-Bohm effect. As the phase of B remains a genuine zero mode while the electromagnetic gauge symmetry is Higgsed in the interior of the vortex, these solutions are superconducting strings., Comment: Latex 28 pages

New types of confinement phase emerge as singular SCFT's appearing as infrared-fixed-points of N=2 supersymmetric QCD (SQCD) are perturbed by an N=1 adjoint mass term. Based on a recent remarkable work on infrared-fixed-point SCFT of highest criticalities by Gaiotto, Seiberg and Tachikawa, we discuss physics of certain confining systems in SU(N), USp(2N) or SO(N) gauge theories. These show features different from a straightforward dual superconductivity picture of confinement a' la 't Hooft and Mandelstam, which might suggest a new venue in exploring the quark confinement mechanism in the real-world QCD., Comment: Latex 17 pages. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1301.0420

New types of confining phase emerge when some singular SCFT's appearing as infrared fixed points of N=2 supersymmetric QCD (SQCD) are deformed by an N=1 adjoint mass term. We make further checks on the Gaiotto-Seiberg-Tachikawa (GST) description of these vacua against the symmetry and vacuum counting argument, and show that the GST variables correctly describe these systems, brought into confinement phase by the N=1 perturbation. Several examples of such vacua, USp(2N) and SU(N) theories with four flavors and SO(N) theories with one or two flavors, are discussed., Comment: 22 pages

In the standard model, the electroweak Z-string can end on a Nambu monopole, whose mass is calculated to be 689 GeV from the current precise experimental data assuming the new particle with mass 125 GeV to be the Higgs boson. We study an extension of the standard model with additional singlet and triplet Higgs fields in the framework of N=1 supersymmetric field theory by using a D-brane configuration in type IIA string theory. We construct a D-brane configuration describing the electroweak symmetry breaking, and find a single D2-brane configuration describing a Z-string and a Nambu monopole attached by a Z-string in the standard model without an adjoint Higgs field. We further find a single D2-brane configuration describing a composite of a 't Hooft-Polyakov monopole and a Nambu monopole attached by a Z-string in an extended standard model with an adjoint Higgs field. We compute the binding energy of the 't Hooft-Polyakov and Nambu monopoles by solving a minimal surface area of a D2-brane., Comment: 25 pages, 10 figures, v2: references added, v3:published version

We revisit the study of confining vacua in the softly broken N=2 supersymmetric QCD, in the light of some recent developments in our understanding of the dynamics of N=2 gauge theories. These vacua are characterized by an effective magnetic $SU(r)$ gauge group ($0\leq r\leq N_f/2$) and are referred to sometimes as the $r$ vacua. We further clarify the meaning of $r \leftrightarrow N_{f}-r$ duality arising from the matching of semi-classical and quantum vacua. A particular attention is paid to certain singular SCFT's of N=2 SQCD, driven into confinement phase by the adjoint mass deformation $\mu\, \Phi^{2}$. In some cases they occur as a result of coalescence of different $r$ vacua as the bare mass is tuned to a critical value., Comment: 27 pages

We review the physics of confinement based on non-Abelian dual superconductor picture, relying on exact solutions in N=2 supersymmetric QCD and based on the recent developments in our understanding of non-Abelian vortices and monopoles. The non-Abelian monopoles, though they are basically just the 't Hooft-Polyakov SU(2) monopoles embedded in various corners of the larger gauge group, require flavor symmetry in an essential way for their very existence. The phenomenon of flavor-color-flavor separation characterizes the multiple roles flavor symmetry plays in producing quantum-mechanical non-Abelian monopoles., Comment: Latex 10 pages, 1 figure

There are a large number of systems characterized by a completely broken gauge symmetry, but with an unbroken global color-flavor diagonal symmetry, i.e., systems in the so-called color-flavor locked phase. If the gauge symmetry breaking supports vortices, the latter develop non-Abelian orientational zero-modes and become non-Abelian vortices, a subject of intense study in the last several years. In this paper we consider the effects of weakly gauging the full exact global flavor symmetry in such systems, deriving an effective description of the light excitations in the presence of a vortex. Surprising consequences are shown to follow. The fluctuations of the vortex orientational modes get diffused to bulk modes through tunneling processes. When our model is embedded in a supersymmetric theory, the vortex is still 1/2 BPS saturated, but the vortex effective action breaks supersymmetry spontaneously., Comment: Latex, 24 pages, 1 figure

Effects of mass deformations on 1/2 Bogomol'nyi-Prasad-Sommerfield (BPS) non-Abelian vortices are studied in 4d N=2 supersymmetric U(1) \times SO(2n) and U(1) \times USp(2n) gauge theories, with Nf=2n quark multiplets. The 2d N=(2,2) effective worldsheet sigma models on the Hermitian symmetric spaces SO(2n)/U(n) and USp(2n)/U(n) found recently which describe the low-energy excitations of the orientational moduli of the vortices, are generalized to the respective massive sigma models. The continuous vortex moduli spaces are replaced by a finite number (2^{n-1} or 2^{n}) of vortex solutions. The 1/2 BPS kinks connecting different vortex vacua are magnetic monopoles in the 4d theory, trapped inside the vortex core, with total configurations being 1/4 BPS composite states. These configurations are systematically studied within the semi-classical regime., Comment: 55 pages, 7 figures

In the context of softly broken N=2 supersymmetric quantum chromodynamics (SQCD), with a hierarchical gauge symmetry breaking SU(N+1) -> U(N) -> 1, at scales v1 and v2, respectively, where v1 >> v2, we construct monopole-vortex complex soliton-like solutions and examine their properties. They represent the minimum of the static energy under the constraint that the monopole and antimonopole positions sitting at the extremes of the vortex are kept fixed. They interpolate the 't Hooft-Polyakov-like regular monopole solution near the monopole centers and a vortex solution far from them and in between. The main result, obtained in the theory with Nf=N equal-mass flavors, is concerned with the existence of exact orientational CP(N-1) zero modes, arising from the exact color-flavor diagonal SU(N)_{C+F} global symmetry. The "unbroken" subgroup SU(N) \subset SU(N+1) with which the na\"ive notion of non-Abelian monopoles and the related difficulties were associated, is explicitly broken at low energies. The monopole transforms nevertheless according to the fundamental representation of a new exact, unbroken SU(N) symmetry group, as does the vortex attached to it. We argue that this explains the origin of the dual non-Abelian gauge symmetry., Comment: Latex 24 pages, 9 figures; v2: minor typos were corrected and values for the numerical calculation were specified

Faddeev and Niemi (FN) have introduced an abelian gauge theory which simulates dynamical abelianization in Yang-Mills theory (YM). It contains both YM instantons and Wu-Yang monopoles and appears to be able to describe the confining phase. Motivated by the meson degeneracy problem in dynamical abelianization models, in this note we present a generalization of the FN theory. We first generalize the Cho connection to dynamical symmetry breaking pattern SU(N+1) -> U(N), and subsequently try to complete the Faddeev-Niemi decomposition by keeping the missing degrees of freedom. While it is not possible to write an on-shell complete FN decomposition, in the case of SU(3) theory of physical interest we find an off-shell complete decomposition for SU(3) -> U(2) which amounts to partial gauge fixing, generalizing naturally the result found by Faddeev and Niemi for the abelian scenario SU(N+1) -> U(1)^N. We discuss general topological aspects of these breakings, demonstrating for example that the FN knot solitons never exist when the unbroken gauge symmetry is nonabelian, and recovering the usual no-go theorems for colored dyons., Comment: Latex 30 pages

We investigate the structure of the moduli space of multiple BPS non-Abelian vortices in U(N) gauge theory with N fundamental Higgs fields, focusing our attention on the action of the exact global (color-flavor diagonal) SU(N) symmetry on it. The moduli space of a single non-Abelian vortex, CP(N-1), is spanned by a vector in the fundamental representation of the global SU(N) symmetry. The moduli space of winding-number k vortices is instead spanned by vectors in the direct-product representation: they decompose into the sum of irreducible representations each of which is associated with a Young tableau made of k boxes, in a way somewhat similar to the standard group composition rule of SU(N) multiplets. The K\"ahler potential is exactly determined in each moduli subspace, corresponding to an irreducible SU(N) orbit of the highest-weight configuration., Comment: LaTeX 46 pages, 4 figures

We discuss aspects of the monopole-vortex complex soliton arising in a hierarchically broken gauge system, G to H to 1, in a theta vacuum of the underlying G theory. Here we focus our attention mainly on the simplest such system with G=SU(2) and H=U(1). A consistent picture of the effect of the theta parameter is found both in a macroscopic, dual picture and in a microscopic description of the monopole-vortex complex soliton., Comment: 18 pages 3 figures

The low-energy vortex effective action is constructed in a wide class of systems in a color-flavor locked vacuum, which generalizes the results found earlier in the context of U(N) models. It describes the weak fluctuations of the non-Abelian orientational moduli on the vortex worldsheet. For instance, for the minimum vortex in SO(2N) x U(1) or USp(2N) x U(1) gauge theories, the effective action found is a two-dimensional sigma model living on the Hermitian symmetric spaces SO(2N)/U(N) or USp(2N)/U(N), respectively. The fluctuating moduli have the structure of that of a quantum particle state in spinor representations of the GNO dual of the color-flavor SO(2N) or USp(2N) symmetry, i.e. of SO(2N) or of SO(2N+1). Applied to the benchmark U(N) model our procedure reproduces the known CP(N-1) worldsheet action; our recipe allows us to obtain also the effective vortex action for some higher-winding vortices in U(N) and SO(2N) theories., Comment: LaTeX, 25 pages, 0 figures

We discuss some of the latest results concerning the non-Abelian vortices. The first concerns the construction of non-Abelian BPS vortices based on general gauge groups of the form G= G' x U(1). In particular detailed results about the vortex moduli space have been obtained for G'=SO(N) or USp(2N). The second result is about the "fractional vortices", i.e., vortices of the minimum winding but having substructures in the tension (or flux) density in the transverse plane. Thirdly, we discuss briefly the monopole-vortex complex., Comment: Latex 20 pages

We give an explicit example of the embedding of a near BPS low-energy (U(1) x USp(2M))/Z_2 gauge theory into a high-energy theory with a simple gauge group and adjoint matter content. This system possesses degenerate monopoles arising from the high-energy symmetry breaking as well as non-Abelian vortices due to the symmetry breaking at low energies. These solitons of different codimensions are related by the exact homotopy sequences., Comment: RevTeX4: 5 pages, 0 figures

The smallest integer t for which the Wilson loop W^{t} fails to exhibit area law is known as the confinement index of a given field theory. The confinement index provides us with subtle information on the vacuum properties of the system. We study the behavior of the Wilson and 't Hooft loops and compute the confinement index in a wide class of N=1 supersymmetric gauge theories. All possible electric and magnetic screenings are taken into account. The results found are consistent with the theta periodicity, and whenever such a check is available, with the factorization property of Seiberg-Witten curves., Comment: 29 pages

We study what might be called fractional vortices, vortex configurations with the minimum winding from the viewpoint of their topological stability, but which are characterized by various notable substructures in the transverse energy distribution. The fractional vortices occur in diverse Abelian or non-Abelian generalizations of the Higgs model. The global and local features characterizing these are studied, and we identify the two crucial ingredients for their occurrence - the vacuum degeneracy leading to non-trivial vacuum moduli M, and the BPS nature of the vortices. Fractional vortices are further classified into two kinds. The first type of such vortices appear when M has orbifold Z_n singularities; the second type occurs in systems in which the vacuum moduli space M possesses either a deformed geometry or some singularity. These general features are illustrated with several concrete models., Comment: LaTeX, 46 pages, 12 figures. V2: minor changes, footnote added

Non-Abelian BPS vortices in SO(N) x U(1) and USp(2N) x U(1) gauge theories are constructed in maximally color-flavor locked vacua. We study in detail their moduli and transformation properties under the exact symmetry of the system. Our results generalize non-trivially those found earlier in supersymmetric U(N) gauge theories. The structure of the moduli spaces turns out in fact to be considerably richer here than what was found in the U(N) theories. We find that vortices are generally of the semi-local type, with power-like tails of profile functions., Comment: Latex, 69 pages, 13 figures