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.

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.

The standard model (SM) of particle physics is a hugely successful theory of nature, but it is incomplete. E.g., it cannot explain finite SM neutrino masses or the origin of the primordial baryon asymmetry (BAU). One way to address such problems is to postulate the existence of new but hidden particles. This thesis studies such "hidden sectors" in two ways: 1) An effective theory approach, where electroweak (EW) and GeV scale portal effective theories (PETs) are constructed that couple the SM to a generic light hidden mediator of spin 0, 1⁄2, or 1. The EW scale PETs include all portal operators of dimension d≤5. The GeV scale PETs additionally include all leading order (LO) flavour changing portal operators of dimension d≤6,7. They are used to derive a LO PET chiral perturbation theory Lagrangian that describes hidden sector induced light meson transitions in fixed target experiments like NA62 or SHiP. 2) An investigation of the type-I seesaw model, which couples the SM to n≥2 sterile neutrinos that can generate a BAU via “leptogenesis”. It is shown that thermal and spectator effects can result in a sign-flip and strong relative enhancement of the BAU in high-scale leptogenesis with two hierarchical sterile neutrinos of vanishing initial abundance. Much lighter sterile neutrinos may be detected via lepton number violating (LNV) decays at colliders, but LNV decays could be suppressed relative to lepton number conserving decays for 't Hooft natural parameter choices. It is shown that the corresponding parameter space consists of three regions: (a)with unsuppressed LNV decays, (b)with suppressed LNV decays, (c)with suppressed and unsuppressed LNV decays.

The Workshop N* Physics and non-perturbative QeD was held at the Eu ropean Center for Theoretical Studies and Related Areas (ECT*) in Trento, Italy, during May 18-29, 1998. Previous workshops of the series on N* Physics took place at the Florida State University (1994), at CEBAF (1995), at the Institute for Nuclear Theory in Seattle (1996) and at the George Washington University (1997). The Workshop was devoted to a summary of recent experimental and the oretical research on N* phsyics and special emphasis was given to the infor mation that photo-and electro-production of nucleon resonances can provide on the non-perturbative regime of Quantum Chromodynamics. The idea was to stimulate discussions among experimentalists and theoreticians in order to pursue the interpretation of the huge amount of forthcoming data from several laboratories in the world. It was therefore decided to have both experimental and theoretical lectures on the main topics, like ,among the others, single and double pion production, TJ-and K-meson production, the GDH sum rule, the spin of the proton, etc. Thanks to the unusual two-week extension of the Work shop, the allotted time for the lectures was extended up to one hour in order to allow the invited lecturers to give a detailed presentation of their topics. Fi nally, various short contributions were selected to sharpen the discussion about selected items.

This book introduces a variety of aspects in nonperturbative Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD), focusing on the topological objects present in gauge theories. These objects, like magnetic monopoles, instantons, instanto-dysons, sphalerons, QCD flux tubes, etc, are first introduced individually and, later, treated collectively. As ensembles, they produce various phenomena that can be modeled numerically in lattice gauge theories and such collective effects, produced on the lattice, are extensively discussed in some chapters. In turn, the notion of duality, which is crucial in modern field/string theories, is elucidated by taking into consideration the electric-magnetic duality, the Poisson duality, and the AdS/CFT duality. This monograph is based on various lectures given by Edward Shuryak at Stony Brook during the last three decades and it is meant for advanced graduate students and young researchers in theoretical and mathematical physics who are willing to consolidate their knowledge in the topological phenomena encountered in fundamental QCD research.

The conference NSTAR 2000 was part of a series of conferences and workshops that began in New York in 1988. Since then, the field of excited nucleons and hadron structure has developed enormously, and the scope has broadened. Most significantly, new experimental facilities have come into operation, allowing precise measurements of resonance couplings and transition form factors. The search for ?missing? quark model states and gluonic excitations in complex hadronic channels is now possible.On the theory side, new and promising developments have emerged: quark models with meson degrees of freedom, hybrid baryon models, and studies of baryons in the limit of many colors. For the first time, lattice QCD has been employed to calculate masses of excited nucleons. Nucleon resonances are now recognized as providing significant contributions to the nucleon spin sum rules, as well as the Gerasimov-Drell-Hearn and Bjorken integrals, at finite momentum transfer.