Confinement from semiclassical gluon fields in SU(2) gauge theory

The infrared structure of SU(2) Yang-Mills theory is studied by means of lattice gauge simulations using a new constrained cooling technique. This method reduces the action while all Polyakov lines on the lattice remain unchanged. In contrast to unconstrained cooling, quark confinement is still intact. A study of the Hessian of the Yang-Mills action shows that low action (semi-) classical configurations can be achieved, with a characteristic splitting between collective modes and higher momentum modes. Besides confinement, the semiclassical configurations also support the topological susceptibility and generate spontaneous breakdown of chiral symmetry.We show that they possess a cluster structure of locally mainly (anti-) selfdual objects. By contrast to an instanton or a meron medium, the topological charge of individual clusters is smoothly distributed.