BPS Z_k strings, string tensions and confinement in non-Abelian Theories

Abstract

In this talk we review some generalizations of 't Hooft and Mandelstam ideas on confinement for theories with non-Abelian unbroken gauge groups. In order to do that, we consider N=2 super Yang-Mills with one flavor and a mass breaking term. One of the spontaneous symmetry breaking is accomplished by a scalar that can be in particular in the representation of the diquark condensate and therefore it can be thought as being itself the condensate. We analyze the phases of the theory. In the superconducting phase, we show the existence of BPS Z_k-strings and calculate exactly their string tension in a straightforward way. We also find that magnetic fluxes of the monopole and Z_k-strings are proportional to one another allowing for monopole confinement in a phase transition. We further show that some of the resulting confining theories can be obtained by adding a deformation term to N=2 or N=4 superconformal theories.