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arXiv · hep-th/9707244

Confinement and Strings in MQCD

Amihay Hanany·Matthew J. Strassler·Alberto Zaffaroni
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Abstract

We study aspects of confinement in the M theory fivebrane version of QCD (MQCD). We show heavy quarks are confined in hadrons (which take the form of membrane-fivebrane bound states) for N=1 and softly broken N=2 SU(Nc) MQCD. We explore and clarify the transition from the exotic physics of the latter to the standard physics of the former. In particular, the many strings and quark-antiquark mesons found in N=2 field theory by Douglas and Shenker are reproduced. It is seen that in the N=1 limit all but one such meson disappears while all of the strings survive. The strings of softly broken N=2, N=1, and even non-supersymmetric SU(Nc) MQCD have a common ratio for their tensions as a function of the amount of flux they carry. We also comment on the almost BPS properties of the Douglas-Shenker strings and discuss the brane picture for monopole confinement on N=2 QCD Higgs branches.

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Amihay Hanany, Matthew J. Strassler, Alberto Zaffaroni. 1997-07-30. Confinement and Strings in MQCD. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0550-3213(97)00651-2

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