TOPOLOGICAL CHARGES AND CONFINEMENT IN LATTICE QCD

Topological properties of the QCD vacuum were studied on a lattice in the quenched approximation. Simulations were performed on an 8(3) x 4 lattice, with SU(3) Wilson action, at beta = 5.6 (confinement phase) a nd beta = 5.8 (deconfinement phase). Topological charges were measured using two local operators of the charge density and the method of coo ling. Topological contents of vacuum configurations were found substan tially different below and above the phase transition. We observed in both phases a suppression of topological fluctuations in the vicinity of static quarks and mesons. In the confinement phase the suppression occurs in the whole flux tube between the static quark and antiquark.