Confining strings in the reconfined phase of trace deformed three dimensional $\mathrm{SU}(2)$ Yang-Mills theory

Abstract

Adding a trace deformation to the Yang-Mills action keeps the theory confining above the standard deconfinement temperature, in the so-called reconfined phase. We study the confining flux tube of the trace-deformed $\mathrm{SU}(2)$ theory in three dimensions with lattice simulations of Polyakov loop correlators. As the deformation increases, the ground state energy departs from the usual Nambu-Gotō effective string description, and deep in the reconfined phase the data are accurately described by the Polchinski-Yang rigid string, an effective string dominated by an extrinsic-curvature term.