Related papers: Topological Field Theory and Phase Transition

It has been argued based on electric-magnetic duality that the Jones polynomial of a knot in three dimensions can be computed by counting the solutions of certain gauge theory equations in four-dimension. And the Euler characteristic of…

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,…

We show that every twist of pure supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory with gauge group GL(N) can be realized as an open-string field theory in topological string theory. Our approach reinterprets twists of supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory as…

The partition function of Euclidean Yang-Mills theory on two dimensional surfaces is given by the Migdal formula. It involves the area and topological characteristics of the surface. We consider this theory on a class of infinite genus…

Phase and modulus of an energy- and pressure-free, composite and adjoint field in an SU(2) Yang-Mills theory are computed. This field is generated by trivial holonomy calorons of topological charge one. It possesses nontrivial $S_1$-winding…

By making use of the background field method, we derive a novel reformulation of the Yang-Mills theory which was proposed recently by the author to derive quark confinement in QCD. This reformulation identifies the Yang-Mills theory with a…

Quantization of two-dimensional Yang-Mills theory on a torus in the gauge where the field strength is diagonal leads to twisted sectors that are completely analogous to the ones that originate long string states in Matrix String Theory. If…

We derive a topological action that describes the confining phase of (Super-)Yang-Mills theories with gauge group $SU(N)$, similar to the work recently carried out by Seiberg and collaborators. It encodes all the Aharonov-Bohm phases of the…

Topologically massive Yang-Mills theory is studied in the framework of geometric quantization. Since this theory has a mass gap proportional to the topological mass m, Yang-Mills contribution decays exponentially at very large distances…

We provide a general formula for the partition function of three-dimensional $\mathcal{N}=2$ gauge theories placed on $S^2 \times S^1$ with a topological twist along $S^2$, which can be interpreted as an index for chiral states of the…

We study the phase diagram of $q$-deformed Yang-Mills theory on $S^2$ at non-zero $\theta$-angle using the exact partition function at finite $N$. By evaluating the exact partition function numerically, we find evidence for the existence of…

Large $N$ two-dimensional QCD on a cylinder and on a vertex manifold (a sphere with three holes) is investigated. The relation between the saddle-point description and the collective field theory of QCD$_2$ is established. Using this…

These are expository lectures reviewing (1) recent developments in two-dimensional Yang-Mills theory, and (2) the construction of topological field theory Lagrangians. Topological field theory is discussed from the point of view of…

We apply the Yang-Lee theory of phase transitions to an urn model of separation of sand. The effective partition function of this nonequilibrium system can be expressed as a polynomial of the size-dependent effective fugacity $z$. Numerical…

Using an extension of the concept of twist field in QFT to space-time (external) symmetries, we study conical twist fields in two-dimensional integrable QFT. These create conical singularities of arbitrary excess angle. We show that, upon…

The N=2* Super-Yang-Mills theory (SYM*) undergoes an infinite sequence of large-N quantum phase transitions. We compute expectation values of Wilson loops in k-symmetric and antisymmetric representations of the SU(N) gauge group in this…

We argue that the phase transition in the mean-field XY model is related to a particular change in the topology of its configuration space. The nature of this topological transition can be discussed on the basis of elementary Morse theory…

The large-N behavior of Yang-Mills and generalized Yang-Mills theories in the double-scaling limit is investigated. By the double-scaling limit, it is meant that the area of the manifold on which the theory is defined, is itself a function…

We propose a reformulation of Yang-Mills theory as a perturbative deformation of a novel topological (quantum) field theory. We prove that this reformulation of the four-dimensional QCD leads to quark confinement in the sense of area law of…

Showing that the location of the zeros of the partition function can be used to study phase transitions, Yang and Lee initiated an ambitious and very fruitful approach. We give an overview of the results obtained using this approach. After…