A different kind of string

Understand

In U(1) lattice gauge theory in three spacetime dimensions, the problem of confinement can be studied analytically in a semi-classical approach, in terms of a gas of monopoles with Coulomb-like interactions.

• In addition, this theory can be mapped to a spin model via an exact duality transformation, which allows one to perform high-precision numerical studies of the confining potential.
• Taking advantage of these properties, we carried out an accurate investigation of the effective string describing the low-energy properties of flux tubes in this confining gauge theory.
• We found striking deviations from the expected Nambu-Goto-like behavior, and, for the first time, evidence for contributions that can be described by a term proportional to the extrinsic curvature of the effective string worldsheet.