# Isolating the confining color field in the SU(3) flux tube

### Abstract

Using lattice Monte Carlo simulations of SU(3) pure gauge theory, we determine the spatial distribution of all components of the color fields created by a static quark and antiquark. We identify the components of the measured chromoelectric field transverse to the line connecting the quark–antiquark pair with the transverse components of an effective Coulomb-like field $\mathbf {E}^C$ associated with the quark sources. Subtracting $\mathbf {E}^C$ from the total simulated chromoelectric field $\mathbf {E}$ yields a non-perturbative, primarily longitudinal chromoelectric field $\mathbf {E}^{ extit{NP}}$ , which we identify as the confining field. This is the first time that the chromoelectric field has been separated into perturbative and nonperturbative components, creating a new tool to study the color field distribution between a quark and an antiquark, and thus the long distance force between them.

Type
Publication
Eur. Phys. J. C