Magnetic strings as part of Yang-Mills plasma

Abstract

Magnetic strings are defined as infinitely thin surfaces which are closed in the vacuum and can be open on an external monopole trajectory (that is, defined by 't Hooft loop). We review briefly lattice data on the magnetic strings which refer mostly to SU(2) and SU(3) pure Yang-Mills theories and concentrate on implications of the strings for the Yang-Mills plasma. We argue that magnetic strings might be a liquid component of the Yang-Mills plasma and suggest tests of this hypothesis.