Related papers: Wilson surface observables from equivariant cohomo…
We define a gauged non-linear sigma model for a 2-sphere valued field and a $SU(2)$ connection on an arbitrary Riemann surface whose energy functional reduces to that for critically coupled magnetic skyrmions in the plane, with arbitrary…
Recently we have proposed a set of variables for describing the infrared limit of four dimensional SU(2) Yang-Mills theory. here we extend these variables to the general case of four dimensional SU(N) Yang-Mills theory. We find that the…
A straightforward gravitational path integral calculation implies that closed universes are trivial, described by a one dimensional Hilbert space. Two recent papers by Harlow-Usatyuk-Zhao and Abdalla-Antonini-Iliesiu-Levine have sought to…
We address the scaling behaviour of contour-shape-dependent ultra-violet singularities of the light-like cusped Wilson loops in Yang-Mills and ${\cal N} = 4$ super-Yang-Mills theories in the higher orders of the perturbative expansion. We…
Null Wilson loops in $\mathcal{N}=4$ super Yang-Mills are dual to planar scattering amplitudes. This duality implies hidden symmetries for both objects. We consider closely related infrared finite observables, defined as the Wilson loop…
We study supersymmetric Wilson loops from a geometrical perspective. To this end, we propose a new formulation of these operators in terms of an integral form associated to the immersion of the loop into a supermanifold. This approach…
We construct and study a new topological field theory in three dimensions. It is a hybrid between Chern-Simons and Rozansky-Witten theory and can be regarded as a topologically-twisted version of the N=4 d=3 supersymmetric gauge theory…
We give a sum over weighted planar surfaces formula for Wilson loop expectations in the large-$N$ limit of strongly coupled lattice Yang-Mills theory, in any dimension. The weights of each surface are simple and expressed in terms of…
The prepotential and spectral curve are described for a smooth interpolation between an enlarged N=4 SUSY and ordinary N=2 SUSY Yang-Mills theory in four dimensions, obtained by compactification from five dimensions with non-trivial…
A two dimensional gauge theory is canonically associated to every Drinfeld double. For particular doubles, the theory turns out to be e.g. the ordinary Yang-Mills theory, the G/G gauged WZNW model or the Poisson $\sigma$-model that…
The vacuum expectation value of the Wilson loop functional in pure Yang-Mills theory on an arbitrary two-dimensional orientable manifold is studied. We consider the calculation of this quantity for the abelian theory in the continuum case…
Given a principal bundle on an orientable closed surface with compact connected structure group, we endow the space of based gauge equivalence classes of smooth connections relative to smooth based gauge transformations with the structure…
We define an integral form of the deformed W-algebra of type gl_r, and construct its action on the K-theory groups of moduli spaces of rank r stable sheaves on a smooth projective surface S, under certain assumptions. Our construction…
We continue our investigation into intersections of closed paths on a torus, to further our understanding of the commutator algebra of Wilson loop observables in 2+1 quantum gravity, when the cosmological constant is negative. We give a…
We generalize the framework introduced by Kapustin et al. for doing path integral localization in Chern-Simons theory to work on any Seifert manifold. This is done by topologically twisting the supersymmetric theory considered by Kapustin…
We show that the large N partition functions and Wilson loop observables of two-dimensional Yang-Mills theories admit a universal functional form irrespective of the gauge group. We demonstrate that U(N) QCD_2 undergoes a large N,…
$QCD_2$ with fermions in the adjoint representation is invariant under $SU(N)/Z_N$ and thereby is endowed with a non-trivial vacuum structure (k-sectors). The static potential between adjoint charges, in the limit of infinite mass, can be…
We revisit the duality between five-dimensional supersymmetric gauge theories and deformations of two-dimensional Yang-Mills theory from a new perspective. We give a unified treatment of supersymmetric gauge theories in three and five…
We explore various aspects of 2-form topological gauge theories in (3+1)d. These theories can be constructed as sigma models with target space the second classifying space $B^2G$ of the symmetry group $G$, and they are classified by…
In planar ${\cal N}=4$ supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory we have studied supersymmetric Wilson loops composed of a large number of light-like segments, i.e., null zig-zags. These contours oscillate around smooth underlying spacelike paths.…