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Imprints of Asymptotic Freedom on Confining Strings

Jan Albert1 and Alexandre Homrich2,3

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Phys. Rev. Lett. 137, 041601 – Published 20 July, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/6399-gw3k

Abstract

We consider the Polyakov loop correlator in the confining phase of large N Yang-Mills theory in three and four dimensions. It can be computed by summing over the exchange of closed flux tubes winding around the thermal cycle. At short separations, the leading divergence is controlled by perturbation theory. Combining these two facts allows us to determine the asymptotic spectral density of string states contributing to the correlator. This sharply relates the weakly coupled UV of the gauge theory to the dynamics of highly energetic flux tubes. Then, in a toy integrable setting, we explore how this can bound the scattering data of the Goldstone modes on top of a long string. We derive a bound on the asymptotic behavior of the reflection amplitude of Goldstones against the flux tube boundary sourced by the Polyakov line, and rule out an asymptotically linear phase shift for the S matrix.

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Phys. Rev. Lett. 137, 041601– Published 20 July, 2026
  • Received 13 April 2026
  • Revised 16 June 2026
  • Accepted 25 June 2026
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