Fully Quantum String Representation of a Wilson Loop in the Finite-Temperature 3D Yang–Mills Theory

Abstract

We demonstrate the emergence of the Polchinski–Strominger term in the string representation of a Wilson loop in the confinement phase of the finite-temperature 3D Yang–Mills theory. At a temperature which is roughly twice smaller than the deconfinement critical temperature, the value of the coupling of that term becomes such that the string conformal anomaly cancels out, thereby admitting a fully quantum description of the quark–antiquark string in 3D rather than 26D.