Monopoles, vortices and confinement in SU(3) gauge theory

We compute, in SU(3) pure gauge theory, the vacuum expectation value (VEV) of the operator which creates a Z(3) vortex wrapping the lattice through pe riodic boundary conditions (dual Polyakov line). The technique used is the same already tested in the SU(2) case. The dual Polyakov line proves to be a good disorder parameter for confinement, and has a similar behaviour to t he monopole condensate. The new features which characterise the constructio n of the disorder operator in SU(3) are emphasised. (C) 2001 Published by E lsevier Science B.V.