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arXiv · 2512.00152

When the center matters: color screening and gluelumps in dihedral lattice gauge theories

Pavel P. Popov·Edoardo Ballini·Alberto Bottarelli·Michele Burrello·Pietro Silvi·Matteo M. Wauters·Philipp Hauke
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Abstract

Confinement is one of the hallmarks of quantum chromodynamics (QCD). Yet, its first-principle characterization, even in simpler models, remains elusive. Through a combination of group-theoretical arguments and numerical analysis, we show that the physical consequences of confinement in a class of discrete non-Abelian lattice gauge theories (LGTs), the dihedral groups $D_N$, are intimately connected with the presence of a $\mathbb{Z}_2$ central subgroup. When the center is trivial (for odd $N$), static charges are screened by a gluon cloud, forming composite objects known in SU$(N)$ gauge theories as gluelumps. This finding implies that string breaking can occur through fluctuations of the electric field only, without the need to nucleate particle--antiparticle pairs from the vacuum. Furthermore, numerical analysis hints at finite-range interactions between the gluelumps in the continuum limit. Our results showcase how the rich and intricate physics typically associated with QCD can emerge in much simpler discrete non-Abelian LGTs, making them ideal settings to test this phenomenology both in numerical calculations and in near-term quantum devices.

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Pavel P. Popov, Edoardo Ballini, Alberto Bottarelli, Michele Burrello, Pietro Silvi, Matteo M. Wauters, Philipp Hauke. 2025-11-28. When the center matters: color screening and gluelumps in dihedral lattice gauge theories. https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.00152

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