Confinement versus color superconductivity: a lattice investigation

Abstract

High density YM-theory is addressed by means of an effective theory where a Higgs type field corresponds to the diquark order parameter. The effective Higgs theory mimics the Cooper instability at the Fermi surface. After Landau gauge fixing, the theory possesses a global color degree of freedom. Color superconductivity corresponds to a spontaneous breakdown of the residual global color symmetry. Numerical simulations illustrate this mechanism of spontaneously broken global color for the case of the standard electro-weak phase transition and for the case of the transition between the confinement and the Higgs phase, respectively. The latter transition is relevant for the study of diquark condensation.