This book provides an update on our understanding of strong interaction, with theoretical and experimental highlights included. It is divided into five sections. The first section is devoted to the investigations into and the latest results on the mechanism of quark confinement. The second and third sections focus respectively on light and heavy quarks (effective field theories, SchwingerOCoDyson approach and lattice QCD results). The fourth section deals with the deconfinement mechanism and quarkOCogluon plasma formation signals. The last section presents highlights of experiments, new physics beyond QCD, and nonperturbative approaches in other theories (strings and SUSY) that may be useful in QCD."

This book provides an update on our understanding of strong interaction, with theoretical and experimental highlights included. It is divided into five sections. The first section is devoted to the investigations into and the latest results on the mechanism of quark confinement. The second and third sections focus respectively on light and heavy quarks (effective field theories, Schwinger-Dyson approach and lattice QCD results). The fourth section deals with the deconfinement mechanism and quark-gluon plasma formation signals. The last section presents highlights of experiments, new physics beyond QCD, and nonperturbative approaches in other theories (strings and SUSY) that may be useful in QCD.

The confinement mechanism of the quarks in QCD is one of the most challenging and open problems in physics. Confinement is a nonperturbative phenomenon, and a definite way to handle it has not yet been found in field theory. There are lattice calculations that can produce the low-lying states of the spectrum and ?measure? many important physical quantities, but nevertheless the development of analytical techniques is of extreme importance for understanding the physics involved in confinement. In this respect it is important to test the results obtained directly from the theory (Bethe-Salpeter kernel, effective Hamiltonians, quark potential, etc.) on the spectrum, form factors and decays of bound states of quarks and gluons, and to relate them to the results of lattice theory.In this book, the question of the confinement mechanism is addressed; explanations in terms of monopoles, instantons and dyons are reviewed and the connection with duality is discussed.

Quantum chromodynamics is generally accepted to be the quantum field theory which describes the strong interactions in elementary particle physics. However, the question of the mechanism responsible for the “confinement” of the color degrees of freedom of quarks and gluons into hadrons still ranks as one of the most interesting open problems in physics.This proceedings volume summarizes the state of the art in this area of research. Mathematically inclined readers will find the articles based on monopoles, vortices, and topology most interesting. Meanwhile, lattice calculations can be performed for many important physical quantities. Their results can be used as guidelines for developing models of quark confinement. These models are indispensable for theoretical physicists performing calculations with the Bethe-Salpeter equation, Dyson-Schwinger equations, effective Hamiltonians, and potential models. The cross-fertilization of all these subfields of research becomes evident from the articles in this book. A few experimental papers are also included.

The confinement mechanism of the quarks in QCD is one of the most challenging and open problems in physics. Confinement is a nonperturbative phenomenon, and a definite way to handle it has not yet been found in field theory. There are lattice calculations that can produce the low-lying states of the spectrum and 'measure' many important physical quantities, but nevertheless the development of analytical techniques is of extreme importance for understanding the physics involved in confinement. In this respect it is important to test the results obtained directly from the theory (Bethe-Salpeter kernel, effective Hamiltonians, quark potential, etc.) on the spectrum, form factors and decays of bound states of quarks and gluons, and to relate them to the results of lattice theory.In this book, the question of the confinement mechanism is addressed; explanations in terms of monopoles, instantons and dyons are reviewed and the connection with duality is discussed.