English

Mass-deformed Super Yang-Mills theory on $\mathbb T^4$: sum over twisted sectors, $\mathbf{\theta}$-angle, and CP violation

High Energy Physics - Theory 2025-10-24 v2 High Energy Physics - Lattice High Energy Physics - Phenomenology

Abstract

We study SU(N)SU(N) super Yang-Mills theory with a small gaugino mass mm and vacuum angle θ\theta on the four-torus T4\mathbb{T}^4 with 't Hooft twisted boundary conditions. Introducing a detuning parameter Δ\Delta, which measures the deviation from an exactly self-dual T4\mathbb{T}^4, and working in the limits mLNΛLN1mLN \ll \Lambda LN \ll 1 and (N1)m2L24πΔ1 \frac{(N-1) m^2 L^2}{4 \pi} \ll \Delta \ll 1, where LL is the torus size and Λ\Lambda the strong-coupling scale, we compute the scalar and pseudo-scalar condensates to leading order in m2L2/Δm^2L^2/\Delta. The twists generate fractional-charge instantons, and we show that summing over all such contributions is crucial for reproducing the correct physical observables in the decompactified strong-coupling regime. From a Hamiltonian perspective, the sum over twisted sectors, already at small torus size, projects in the m=0m=0 limit onto a definite superselection sector of the R4\mathbb{R}^4 theory. In the massless limit, we recover the exact value of the gaugino condensate λλ=16π2Λ3|\langle \lambda \lambda \rangle| = 16\pi^2 \Lambda^3, and demonstrate how a spurious U(1)U(1) symmetry eliminates all CPCP-violating effects. Our results are directly testable in lattice simulations, and our method extends naturally to non-supersymmetric gauge theories.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2509.00157,
  title  = {Mass-deformed Super Yang-Mills theory on $\mathbb T^4$: sum over twisted sectors, $\mathbf{\theta}$-angle, and CP violation},
  author = {Mohamed M. Anber and Erich Poppitz},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2509.00157},
  year   = {2025}
}

Comments

52 pages+appendices; typos corrected, matches the published version