Related papers: Vacuum Structure of Two-Dimensional Gauge Theories…
We address the issue of topological angles in the context of two dimensional SU(N) Yang-Mills theory coupled to massive fermions in the adjoint representation. Classification of the resulting multiplicity of vacua is carried outin terms of…
We discuss the stability of vacua in two-dimensional gauge theory for any simple, simply connected gauge group. Making use of the representation of a vacuum in terms of a Wilson line at infinity, we determine which vacua are stable against…
We provide explicit formulas for the number of vacua of four-dimensional pure N=1 super Yang-Mills theories on a circle, with any simple gauge algebra and any choice of center and spectrum of line operators. These form a key ingredient in…
In this thesis we discuss recent new insights in the structure of the moduli space of flat connections of Yang-Mills theory on a 3-torus. Chapter 2 discusses the computation of Witten's index for 4-dimensional gauge theories, and the…
We derive formulas for counting certain classes of vacua in the string/M theory landscape. We do so in the context of the moduli space of M-theory compactifications on singular manifolds with G_2 holonomy. Particularly, we count the numbers…
An explicit proof of the existence of nontrivial vacua in the pure supersymmetric Yang-Mills theories with higher orthogonal SO(N), N>=7 or the G_2 gauge group defined on a 3-torus with periodic boundary conditions is given. Extra vacuum…
We discuss the existence of $\theta$-vacua in pure Yang-Mills theory in two space-time dimensions. More precisely, a procedure is given which allows one to classify the distinct quantum theories possessing the same classical limit for an…
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…
The theta dependence of the vacuum energy in large N Yang-Mills theory has been studied some time ago by Witten using a duality of large N gauge theories with string theory compactified on a certain space-time. We show that within the field…
We consider the pure supersymmetric Yang--Mills theories placed on a small 3-dimensional spatial torus with higher orthogonal and exceptional gauge groups. The problem of constructing the quantum vacuum states is reduced to a pure…
Classical vacuum - pure gauge - solutions of Euclidean two-dimensional SU(2) Yang-Mills theories are studied. Topologically non-trivial vacua are found in a class of gauge group elements isomorphic to $S_2$. These solutions are unexpectedly…
We consider the relationship between the higher symmetry and the dynamical decomposition in supersymmetric gauge theory in various dimensions by studying the semi-classical potential energy. We observe that besides the scalar moduli we…
The derivation of the explicit formula for the vacuum expectation value of the Wilson loop functional for an arbitrary gauge group on an arbitrary orientable two-dimensional manifold is considered both in the continuum case and on the…
It is well known that in the weak coupling regime, quantum field theories in de Sitter space do not have a unique vacuum, but a class of vacua parametrized by a complex parameter $\alpha$, i.e., the so-called $\alpha$-vacua. In this…
Recent progress in understanding (2+1)-dimensional Yang-Mills (YM_{2+1}) theory via the use of gauge-invariant variables is reviewed. Among other things, we discuss the vacuum wavefunction, an analytic calculation of the string tension and…
We analyze the gapped flux vacua of 2D (8,8) SU(N) super-Yang-Mills theory. Based on the matrix string theory duality, we conjecture the spectrum of massive resonances in the gauge theory at large N and beyond the 't Hooft scaling regime.
Motivated by recent discussions of the string-theory landscape, we propose field-theoretic realizations of models with large numbers of vacua. These models contain multiple U(1) gauge groups, and can be interpreted as deconstructed versions…
Two dimensional gauge theories with charged matter fields are useful toy models for studying gauge theory dynamics, and in particular for studying the duality of large $N$ gauge theories to perturbative string theories. A useful starting…
We investigate the spectral flows of the hermitian Wilson-Dirac operator in the fundamental and adjoint representations on two ensembles of pure SU(2) gauge field configurations at the same physical volume. We find several background gauge…
We analyze the vacuum structure of an eight-dimensional non-abelian gauge theory with a compactified four-dimensional torus as the extra dimensions. As a non-trivial background configuration of the gauge field of an $SU(n)$ gauge group, we…