Quark confinement and the renormalization group

Abstract

Recent approaches to quark confinement are reviewed, with an emphasis on their connection to renormalization group (RG) methods. Basic concepts related to confinement are introduced: the string tension, Wilson loops and Polyakov lines, string breaking, string tension scaling laws, centre symmetry breaking and the deconfinement transition at non-zero temperature. Current topics discussed include confinement on R3 × S1, the real-space RG, the functional RG and the Schwinger-Dyson equation approach to confinement. © 2011 The Royal Society.