Structure and Dynamics of Monopoles in Axial-Gauge QCD

Abstract

An investigation of singular fields emerging in the process of transforming QCD to the axial gauge is presented. The structure of the singularities is analyzed. It is shown that apart from well known neutral magnetic monopole singularities, the field configurations also exhibit singularities in their charged and transverse components. This complex singularity structure guarantees finite non-Abelian field strength and thus finite action if expressed in terms of gauge fixed fields. A relation between the monopole charges of singular field configurations and their topological charge is derived. Qualitative dynamical aspects of the role of the monopoles are discussed. It is argued that the entropy associated with monopoles increases with decreasing temperature and that the coupling to quantum fluctuations favors monopole-antimonopole binding.