Dual superconductor scenario of confinement: A systematic study of Gribov copy effects.

We perform a study of the effects from maximal Abelian gauge Gribov copies in the context of the dual superconductor scenario of confinement, on the basis of a novel approach for the estimation of systematic uncertainties from incomplete gauge fixing. We present numerical results, in SU(2) lattice gauge theory, using the overrelaxed simulated annealing gauge-fixing algorithm. We find Abelian and non-Abelian string tensions to differ significantly, their ratio being 0.92(4) at {beta}=2.5115. An approximate factorization of the Abelian potential into monopole and photon contributions has been confirmed, the former giving rise to the Abelian string tension. {copyright} {ital 1996 The American Physical Society.}