Static Quark Potentials in Quantum Gravity

We present potentials between static charges from simulations of quantum gravity coupled to an SU(2) gauge field on $6^{3}\times 4$ and $8^{3}\times 4$ simplicial lattices. The action consists of the gravitational term given by Regge's discrete version of the Euclidean Einstein action and a gauge term given by the Wilson action, with coupling constants $m_{p}^{2}$ and $β$ respectively. In the well-defined phase of the gravity sector where geometrical expectation values are stable, we study the correlations of Polyakov loops and extract the corresponding potentials between a source and sink separated by a distance $R$. We compare potentials on a flat simplicial lattice with those on a fluctuating Regge skeleton. In the confined phase, the potential has a linear form while in the deconfined phase, a screened Coulombic behavior is found. Our results indicate that quantum gravitational effects do not destroy confinement due to non-abelian gauge fields.

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