t Hooft and Wilson loop ratios in the QCD plasma Original Research Article

The spatial ʹt Hooft loop measuring the electric flux and the spatial Wilsonloop measuring the magnetic flux are analyzed in hot SU(N) gauge theory. Both display area laws. On one hand the tension of the ʹt Hooft loop is perturbatively calculable, in the same sense as the pressure. We show that the O(g3) contribution is absent. The ratio of multi-charged ʹt Hooft loops have a remarkably simple dependence on the charge, true up to, but not including, O(g4). This dependence follows also from a simple model of free screened colour charges. On the other hand the surface tension of the Wilsonloop is non-perturbative. But in a model of screened free monopoles at very high temperature the known area law follows. The density of these monopoles starts to contribute to O(g6) to the pressure. The ratio of the multicharged Wilson loops is calculable and identical to that of the ʹt Hooft loops.