Deconfinement in SU(2) Yang-Mills theory as a center vortex percolation transition - art. no. 054504

By fixing lattice Yang-Mills configurations to the maximal center gauge and subsequently applying the technique of center projection, one can identify center Vortices in these configurations. Recently, center vor tices have b een shown to determine the string tension between static quarks at finite t emperatures (center dominance), also, they correctly reproduce the deconfin ing transition to a phase with vanishing string tension. After verifying ce nter dominance also for the so-called spatial string tension, the present a nalysis focuses on the global topology of vortex networks. General argument s are given supporting the notion that the deconfinement transition in the center vortex picture takes the guise of a percolation transition. This tra nsition is detected in Monte Carlo experiments by concentrating on various slices through the closed vortex surfaces; these slices, representing loops in lattice universes reduced by one dimension, clearly exhibit the expecte d transition from a percolating to a non-percolating, deconfined, phase. Th e latter phase contains a large proportion of vortex loops winding around t he lattice in the Euclidean time direction. At the same time, an intuitive picture clarifying the persistence of the spatial string tension in the dec onfined phase emerges.