Instantons and Monopoles in General Abelian Gauges.pdf

a r X i v : h e p - t h / 9 9 0 9 0 0 4 v 2 6 S e p 1 9 9 9 FAU-TP3-99/6 hep-th/9909004 Instantons and Monopoles in General Abelian Gauges O. Jahn1 Institut fu?r Theoretische Physik Friedrich-Alexander-Universita?t Erlangen-Nu?rnberg Staudtstra?e 7, D-91058 Erlangen, Germany Abstract A relation between the total instanton number and the quantum-numbers of magnetic monopoles that arise in general Abelian gauges in SU(2) Yang- Mills theory is established. The instanton number is expressed as the sum of the ‘twists’ of all monopoles, where the twist is related to a generalized Hopf invariant. The origin of a stronger relation between instantons and monopoles in the Polyakov gauge is discussed. 1 Introduction Instantons and (Abelian projection) monopoles are both topological objects that are associated with low-energy phenomena in QCD. While instantons provide a solution to the U(1) problem [1, 2] and an explanation for chiral symmetry breaking [3], they have not been able to explain color confinement yet [4, 5]. A possible mechanism for the latter is the dual Meissner effect due to condensation of magnetic monopoles that arise in so-called Abelian gauges [6, 7]. Lattice simulations indicate that magnetic monopoles indeed play an important role for confinement [8, 9, 10, 11]. Since lattice simulations also indicate that the transition to a deconfined phase and the restoration of chiral symmetry occur at approximately the same temperature, it would be puzzling if they were generated by completely independent mechanisms. There is indeed evidence from a number of studies both in the continuum and on the lattice that instantons and monopoles are correlated in several Abelian gauges (see, e.g., [12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17]). A connection between the instanton number (Pontryagin index) and magnetic charges has already been considered in Refs. [18, 19]. The detailed relation between the total instanton number and the quantum numbers of magnetic monopoles has so far only been