{"paper":{"title":"Topological insulators and the QCD vacuum: the theta parameter as a Berry phase","license":"http://arxiv.org/licenses/nonexclusive-distrib/1.0/","headline":"","cross_cats":[],"primary_cat":"hep-th","authors_text":"H. B. Thacker","submitted_at":"2013-11-27T20:12:35Z","abstract_excerpt":"There is considerable evidence, based on large $N_c$ chiral dynamics, holographic QCD, and Monte Carlo studies, that the QCD vacuum is permeated by discrete quasivacua separated by domain walls across which the local value of the topological $\\theta$ parameter jumps by $\\pm2\\pi$. In the 2-dimensional $CP^{N-1}$ sigma model, a pointlike charge is a domain wall, and $\\theta$ describes the background electric flux and the polarization of charged pairs in the vacuum. We show that the screening process, and the role of $\\theta$ as an order parameter describing electric polarization, are naturally f"},"claims":{"count":0,"items":[],"snapshot_sha256":"258153158e38e3291e3d48162225fcdb2d5a3ed65a07baac614ab91432fd4f57"},"source":{"id":"1311.7104","kind":"arxiv","version":1},"verdict":{"id":null,"model_set":{},"created_at":null,"strongest_claim":"","one_line_summary":"","pipeline_version":null,"weakest_assumption":"","pith_extraction_headline":""},"references":{"count":0,"sample":[],"resolved_work":0,"snapshot_sha256":"258153158e38e3291e3d48162225fcdb2d5a3ed65a07baac614ab91432fd4f57","internal_anchors":0},"formal_canon":{"evidence_count":0,"snapshot_sha256":"258153158e38e3291e3d48162225fcdb2d5a3ed65a07baac614ab91432fd4f57"},"author_claims":{"count":0,"strong_count":0,"snapshot_sha256":"258153158e38e3291e3d48162225fcdb2d5a3ed65a07baac614ab91432fd4f57"},"builder_version":"pith-number-builder-2026-05-17-v1"}