Non-Abelian Stokes Theorem and Quark Confinement in SU(3) Yang-Mills Gauge Theory

Abstract

We derive a new version of SU(3) non-Abelian Stokes theorem by making use of the coherent state representation on the coset space $SU(3)/(U(1)\times U(1))=F_2$, the flag space. Then we outline a derivation of the area law of the Wilson loop in SU(3) Yang-Mills theory in the maximal Abelian gauge (The detailed exposition will be given in a forthcoming article). This derivation is performed by combining the non-Abelian Stokes theorem with the reformulation of the Yang-Mills theory as a perturbative deformation of a topological field theory recently proposed by one of the authors. Within this framework, we show that the fundamental quark is confined even if $G=SU(3)$ is broken by partial gauge fixing into $H=U(2)$ just as $G$ is broken to $H=U(1) \times U(1)$. An origin of the area law is related to the geometric phase of the Wilczek-Zee holonomy for U(2). Abelian dominance is an immediate byproduct of these results and magnetic monopole plays the dominant role in this derivation.