The QCD $\beta$-function On The String Worldsheet

We consider confining strings in pure gluodynamics and its extensions with adjoint (s)quarks. We argue that there is a direct map between the set of bulk fields and the worldsheet degrees of freedom. This suggests a close link between the worldsheet $S$-matrix and parton scattering amplitudes. We report an amusing relation between the Polchinski--Strominger amplitude responsible for the breakdown of integrability on the string worldsheet and the Yang--Mills $\beta$-function $$b_0={D_{cr}-D_{ph}\over 6}\;.$$ Here $b_0=11/3$ is the one-loop $\beta$-function coefficient in the pure Yang--Mills theory, $D_{cr}=26$ is the critical dimension of bosonic strings and $D_{ph}=4$ is the dimensionality of the physical space-time we live in. A natural extension of this relation continues to hold in the presence of adjoint (s)quarks, connecting two of the most celebrated anomalies---the scale anomaly in quantum chromodynamics (QCD) and the Weyl anomaly in string theory.