Related papers: The String Theory Approach to Generalized 2D Yang-…
We consider two-dimensional Yang-Mills theories on arbitrary Riemann surfaces. We introduce a generalized Yang-Mills action, which coincides with the ordinary one on flat surfaces but differs from it in its coupling to two-dimensional…
We quantize pure 2d Yang-Mills theory on an arbitrary Riemann surface in the gauge where the field strength is diagonal. Twisted sectors originate, as in Matrix string theory, from permutations of the eigenvalues around homotopically…
We discuss the equivalence between a string theory and the two-dimensional Yang-Mills theory with SU(N) gauge group for finite N. We find a sector which can be interpreted as a sum of covering maps from closed string world-sheets to the…
We study the structures of partition functions of the large $N$ generalized two-dimensional Yang-Mills theories ($gYM_2$) by recasting the higher Casimirs. We clarify the appropriate interpretations of them and try to extend the…
In earlier work we proposed a string theory dual to two dimensional Yang-Mills theory at zero coupling (which can also be thought of as a $BF$ theory), given by a Polyakov-like generalization of Ho\v rava's topological rigid string theory,…
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 show that two-dimensional SO(N) and Sp(N) Yang-Mills theories without fermions can be interpreted as closed string theories. The terms in the 1/N expansion of the partition function on an orientable or nonorientable manifold M can be…
We propose that chiral two-dimensional Yang-Mills theory on a Riemann surface is dual to a deformed stationary subsector of the Gromov-Witten theory of that Riemann surface. Firstly, we argue that the algebraic structure that underlies the…
We show that 3d SU(2) lattice Yang--Mills theory can be cast in the form of an exact string representation. The derivation starts from the exact dual (or spin foam) representation of the lattice gauge theory. We prove that every dual…
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 construct the lattice gauge theory of the group G_N, the semidirect product of the permutation group S_N with U(1)^N, on an arbitrary Riemann surface. This theory describes the branched coverings of a two-dimensional target surface by…
We quantize pure 2d Yang-Mills theory on a torus in the gauge where the field strength is diagonal. Because of the topological obstructions to a global smooth diagonalization, we find string-like states in the spectrum similar to the ones…
We exhibit the gauge-group independence (``universality'') of all normalized non-intersecting Wilson loop expectation values in the large N limit of two-dimensional Yang-Mills theory. This universality is most easily understood via the…
We describe a topological string theory which reproduces many aspects of the 1/N expansion of SU(N) Yang-Mills theory in two spacetime dimensions in the zero coupling (A=0) limit. The string theory is a modified version of topological…
Two dimensional SU(N) Yang-Mills theory is known to be equivalent to a string theory, as found by Gross in the large N limit, using the 1/N expansion. Later it was found that even a generalized YM theory leads to a string theory of the…
It is known that YM_2 with gauge group SU(N) is equivalent to a string theory with coupling g_s=1/N, order by order in the 1/N expansion. We show how this results can be obtained from the bosonization of the fermionic formulation of YM_2,…
We write down all orders large $N$ expansions for the dimensions of irreducible representations of $O(N)$ and $Sp(N)$. We interpret all the terms in these expansions as symmetry factors for singular worldsheet configurations, involving…
We present a string theory that reproduces the large-$N$ expansion of two dimensional Yang-Mills gauge theory on arbitrary surfaces. First, a new class of topological sigma models is introduced, with path integrals localized to the moduli…
In this paper, we review the construction and large $N$ study of the continuous two-dimensional Yang--Mills theory with gauge group $\mathrm{U}(N)$ through probability, combinatorics and representation theory. In the first part, we define…
We demonstrate that the large-N expansion of Wilson loop expectation values in SO(N) and Sp(N) Yang-Mills theory on orientable and nonorientable surfaces has a natural description as a weighted sum over covers of the given surface. The sum…