The Higgs phase as a spin glass, and the transition between varieties of confinement

Jeff Greensite; Kazue Matsuyama

doi:10.1103/physrevd.101.054508

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arXiv · 2001.03068

The Higgs phase as a spin glass, and the transition between varieties of confinement

Jeff Greensite·Kazue Matsuyama

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Abstract

We propose that the Higgs phase of a gauge Higgs theory is the phase of spontaneously broken custodial symmetry, and present a new gauge invariant order parameter for custodial symmetry breaking which is very closely analogous to the Edwards-Anderson order parameter for spin glasses. Custodial symmetry is a global symmetry acting on the Higgs field alone, and we show here that the spin glass transition in gauge Higgs theories, from a QCD-like phase to a Higgs phase of broken custodial symmetry, coincides with the transition between two distinct types of confinement. These are color confinement in the Higgs phase, and a stronger version of confinement, which we have termed "separation-of-charge" confinement, in the QCD-like phase.

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hep-th cond-mat.dis-nn cond-mat.stat-mech hep-lat hep-ph

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Jeff Greensite, Kazue Matsuyama. 2020-01-09. The Higgs phase as a spin glass, and the transition between varieties of confinement. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevd.101.054508

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