How superconductors help us understand quantum chromodynamics - Evgenii Ievlev (Minnesota U.)

Abstract: Quantum chromodynamics (QCD) is the theory that describes strong interactions. Despite massive success in perturbative phenomena, this theory remains not very well understood in the low-energy limit where it confines.
In this talk we will discuss non-Abelian flux tubes, which generalize the Abrikosov-Nielsen-Olesen vortices. These flux tubes are responsible for confinement in supersymmetric QCD. We will start with a general classical solitonic construction and then consider the case where quantization is possible, leading to an exact solution for the baryon spectrum. We will also discuss possible implications for non-supersymmetric QCD.