Center-vortex semiclassics with non-minimal 't Hooft fluxes on $\mathbb{R}^2\times T^2$ and center stabilization at large $N$

Abstract

We consider the semiclassical description of confinement for $4$d $SU(N)$ Yang-Mills theory on small $\mathbb{R}^2\times T^2$ with non-minimal 't Hooft twist $p$ with $\gcd(N,p)=1$. For this purpose, we construct the self-dual center vortex for non-minimal 't Hooft twists from the Kraan-van Baal-Lee-Lu-Yi (KvBLLY) monopoles by using the $3$d Abelianized description of $SU(N)$ gauge fields on $\mathbb{R}^3\times S^1$ with nontrivial holonomy backgrounds. This construction shows the self-dual vortex has (1) the fractional magnetic charge $q/N$ with $pq=1$ mod $N$, (2) the fractional topological charge $1/N$, and (3) the fractional instanton action $S_{\mathrm{YM}}=8\pi^2/(Ng^2)$. The confinement vacua for $NL\Lambda\ll 1$ can be described by the dilute gas approximation of center vortices, and we give the semiclassical formula for the $\theta$ dependence and confining string tensions. We apply this result to understand the suitable choice of the twist $p$ for center stabilization at large $N$. In particular, we test the proposal using the Fibonacci sequence, $N=F_{n+2}$ and $p=F_n$, suggested in studies of the twisted Eguchi-Kawai model, from the viewpoint of the $1$-form and $0$-form center symmetries.