  We show that slave particles are always confined in U(1) gauge theories of
interacting electron systems. Consequently, the low-lying degrees of freedom
are different from the slave particles. This is done by constructing a dual
formulation of the slave-particle representation in which the no-double
occupany constraint becomes linear and, hence, soluble. Spin-charge separation,
if it occurs, is due to the existence of solitons with fractional quantum
numbers.
