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arXiv · 1805.11887

Casimir effect in Yang-Mills theory

Abstract

We study, for the first time, the Casimir effect in non-Abelian gauge theory using first-principle numerical simulations. Working in two spatial dimensions at zero temperature we find that closely spaced perfect chromoelectric conductors attract each other with a small anomalous scaling dimension. At large separation between the conductors, the attraction is exponentially suppressed by a new massive quantity, the Casimir mass, which is surprisingly different from the lowest glueball mass. The apparent emergence of the new massive scale may be a result of the backreaction of the vacuum to the presence of the plates as sufficiently close chromoelectric conductors induce, in a space between them, a smooth crossover transition to a color deconfinement phase.

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M. N. Chernodub, V. A. Goy, A. V. Molochkov, Ha Huu Nguyen. 2018-05-30. Casimir effect in Yang-Mills theory. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.121.191601

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