Self-dual noncommutative ϕ^4-theory in four dimensions is a non-perturbatively solvable and non-trivial quantum field theory
We study quartic matrix models with partition function Z[E,J]=\int dM \exp(trace(JM-EM^2-(λ/4)M^4)). The integral is over the space of Hermitean NxN-matrices, the external matrix E encodes the dynamics, λ>0 is a scalar coupling constant and the matrix J is used to generate correlation functions. For E not a multiple of the identity matrix, we prove a universal algebraic recursion formula which gives all higher correlation functions in terms of the 2-point function and the distinct eigenvalues of E. The 2-point function itself satisfies a closed non-linear equation which must be solved case by case for given E. These results imply that if the 2-point function of a quartic matrix model is renormalisable by mass and wavefunction renormalisation, then the entire model is renormalisable and has vanishing β-function. As main application we prove that Euclidean ϕ^4-quantum field theory on four-dimensional Moyal space with harmonic propagation, taken at its self-duality point and in the infinite volume limit, is exactly solvable and non-trivial. This model is a quartic matrix model, where E has for N->\infty the same spectrum as the Laplace operator in 4 dimensions. Using the theory of singular integral equations of Carleman type we compute (for N->\infty and after renormalisation of E,λ) the free energy density (1/volume)\log(Z[E,J]/Z[E,0]) exactly in terms of the solution of a non-linear integral equation. Existence of a solution is proved via the Schauder fixed point theorem. The derivation of the non-linear integral equation relies on an assumption which we verified numerically for coupling constants 0<λ\leq (1/π).