Year: 1997
Type: preprint
Abstract: QCD without matter and quantized on a light-cone spatial cylinder is considered. For the gauge group SU(N) the theory has N-1 quantum mechanical degrees of freedom, which describe the color fux that circulates around the the spatial cylinder. In 1+1 dimensions this problem can be solved analytically. I use the solution for SU(2) to compute the Wilson loop phase on the surface of the cylinder and find that it is equal to g^2 area/4. This result is different from the well known result for flat space. I argue that for SU(N) the Wilson loop phase for a contour on a light-cone spatial cylinder is g^2(area) (N-1)/4. The underlying reason for this result is that only the N-1 dimensional Cartan subgroup of SU(N) is dynamical in this problem.
Source: arXiv (Cornell University)
Author: Pinsky, Stephen
Institution: The Ohio State University
Language: English
Subfield: Nuclear and High Energy Physics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W1531629331