  We investigate the temporal Wilson loop using the Hamiltonian approach to
Yang-Mills theory. In simple cases such as the Abelian theory or the
non-Abelian theory in (1+1) dimensions, the known results can be reproduced
using unitary transformations to take care of time evolution. We show how
Coulomb gauge can be used for an alternative solution if the exact ground state
wave functional is known. In the most interesting case of Yang-Mills theory in
(3+1) dimensions, the vacuum wave functional is not known, but recent
variational approaches in Coulomb gauge give a decent approximation. We use
this formulation to compute the temporal Wilson loop and find that the Wilson
and Coulomb string tension agree within our approximation scheme. Possible
improvements of these findings are briefly discussed.
