Deconfinement, Screening and Abelian Projection at Finite Temperature

The behavior of static sources transforming according to different irreducible representations of the gauge group is studied in the context of finite temperature lattice gauge theory. We combine analytical and numerical approaches to extract information about confinement and screening both at low temperatures, and around the deconfinement phase transition. The idea that abelian projection in the Maximally Abelian Gauge reproduces the most important features of confinement and screening is tested at a quantitative level in these finite-T theories. Our results show that while this abelian projection provides correct qualitative features, it fails at a detailed quantitative level.