On the conformal anomaly of k-strings

Abstract

We discuss the long distance behaviour of the flux tube associated to baryon vertices and argue that, if the gauge system admits stable k-strings, the conformal field theory describing this string in the IR has conformal anomaly c=(d-2)σ_k/σ, where σ_k is the k-string tension and σthat of the fundamental representation. We check this result in a 3D Z_4 gauge model at finite temperature, where a string effect directly related to "c" can be clearly identified.

7 pages, 5 figures; Talk presented at the XXV International Symposium on Lattice Field Theory, July 30 - August 4 2007, Regensburg, Germany