Monopoles and Confinement in U(1) Lattice Gauge Theory

Available from UMI in association with The British Library. Requires signed TDF. Confinement in U(1) gauge theory is investigated, with particular emphasis on the role of monopoles. Starting from the work of Polyakov, the theoretical aspects are considered first, in some detail. This leads to the conclusion that the conventional techniques for analysing Monte Carlo data may not be adequate, and motivates the development of an alternative interpretation based on the theoretical insight gained. This takes more account of the expected physical properties of the theory, and does not assume beforehand that one type of behaviour (perturbative, or monopole driven) dominates. It is found that better fits to the Monte Carlo data can be achieved this way than by using the conventional methods, although different string tensions are found. The small distance behaviour is found to be best explained in terms of Coulomb effects, rather than the Luscher vibrating string picture sometimes used before. Perturbative calculations are made of Wilson loops on lattices of different shapes, and some comparisons with Monte Carlo data are made. Comments are made on the significance of these results for four dimensions, and for SU(2) and SU(3).