CONFINEMENT AND CHROMOELECTRIC FLUX TUBES IN LATTICE QCD

We study the string tension σ and chromoelectric flux tube configurations on the lattice at zero and finite T, using a cooling technique along which the short-range quantum fluctuations are reduced while semiclassical configurations are left metastable. We find that σ survives many cooling steps showing a clear plateau and then disappears. The value of σ at the plateau, vs. T, and the value of the deconfinement temperature are the same as found without cooling, suggesting that confinement is produced by semiclassical configurations. We find a clear evidence of chromoelectric flux tube configurations between a static qq pair, which survive as many cooling steps as the string tension, with a transverse size of order 0.5 fm at T = 0, and get broader and broader until they disappear at the deconfinement phase transition. We discuss also some tests of 't Hooft's abelian projection for the flux formation. © 1990.