arXiv subjects

M. Shifman

Publications and source records attributed to M. Shifman.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources

arXiv2009

Multiflavor QCD* on R_3 x S_1: Studying Transition From Abelian to Non-Abelian Confinement

The center-stabilized multiflavor QCD* theories formulated on R_3 x S_1 exhibit both Abelian and non-Abelian confinement as a function of the S_1 radius, similar to the Seiberg-Witten theory as a function of the mass deformation parameter. For sufficiently small number of flavors and small r(S_1), we show occurence of a mass gap in gauge fluctuations, and linear confinement. This is a regime of confinement without continuous chiral symmetry breaking (χSB). Unlike one-flavor theories where there is no phase transition in r(S_1), the multiflavor theories possess a single phase transition associated with breaking of the continuous chiral symmetry. We conjecture that the scale of the χSB is parametrically tied up with the scale of Abelian to non-Abelian confinement transition.

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arXiv2008

Confinement and Localization on Domain Walls

We continue the studies of localization of the U(1) gauge fields on domain walls. Depending on dynamics of the bulk theory the gauge field localized on the domain wall can be either in the Coulomb phase or squeezed into flux tubes implying (Abelian) confinement of probe charges on the wall along the wall surface. First, we consider a simple toy model with one flavor in the bulk at weak coupling (a minimal model) realizing the latter scenario. We then suggest a model presenting an extension of the Seiberg--Witten theory which is at strong coupling, but all theoretical constructions are under full control if we base our analysis on a dual effective action. Finally, we compare our findings with the wall in a "nonminimal" theory with two distinct quark flavors that had been studied previously. In this case the U(1) gauge field trapped on the wall is exactly massless because it is the Goldstone boson of a U(1) symmetry in the bulk spontaneously broken on the wall. The theory on the wall is in the Coulomb phase. We explain why the mechanism of confinement discussed in the first part of the paper does not work in this case, and strings are not formed on the walls.

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arXiv2008

Revisiting Critical Vortices in Three-Dimensional SQED

We consider renormalization of the central charge and the mass of the ${\cal N}=2$ supersymmetric Abelian vortices in 2+1 dimensions. We obtain ${\cal N}=2$ supersymmetric theory in 2+1 dimensions by dimensionally reducing the ${\cal N}=1$ SQED in 3+1 dimensions with two chiral fields carrying opposite charges. Then we introduce a mass for one of the matter multiplets without breaking N=2 supersymmetry. This massive multiplet is viewed as a regulator in the large mass limit. We show that the mass and the central charge of the vortex get the same nonvanishing quantum corrections, which preserves BPS saturation at the quantum level. Comparison with the operator form of the central extension exhibits fractionalization of a global U(1) charge; it becomes 1/2 for the minimal vortex. The very fact of the mass and charge renormalization is due to a "reflection" of an unbalanced number of the fermion and boson zero modes on the vortex in the regulator sector.

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arXiv2008

Confinement in Yang--Mills: Elements of a Big Picture

We present a nontechnical review of the current understanding of the phenomenon of color confinement. The emphasis is put on recent advances. This is a combined and slightly expanded version of talks delivered at 14th International QCD Conference "QCD 08," 7-12th July 2008, Montpellier, France, the International Conference "Quark Confinement and the Hadron Spectrum," Mainz, Germany, September 1-6, 2008 (Confinement 08), and the International Conference "Approaches to Quantum Chromodynamics," Oberwoelz, Austria, September 7-13, 2008.

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arXiv2008

On Yang-Mills Theories with Chiral Matter at Strong Coupling

Strong coupling dynamics of Yang--Mills theories with chiral fermion content remained largely elusive despite much effort over the years. In this work, we propose a dynamical framework in which we can address non-perturbative properties of chiral, non-supersymmetric gauge theories, in particular, chiral quiver theories on $S_1 \times R_3 $. Double-trace deformations are used to stabilize the center-symmetric vacuum. This allows one to smoothly connect small-$r(S_1)$ to large-$r(S_1)$ physics ($R_4$ is the limiting case) where the double-trace deformations are switched off. In particular, occurrence of the mass gap in the gauge sector and linear confinement due to bions are analytically demonstrated. We find the pattern of the chiral symmetry realization which depends on the structure of the ring operators, a novel class of topological excitations. The deformed chiral theory, unlike the undeformed one, satisfies volume independence down to arbitrarily small volumes (a working Eguchi--Kawai reduction) in the large $N$ limit. This equivalence, may open new perspectives on strong coupling chiral gauge theories on $R_4$.

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arXiv2008

Theoretical Developments in SUSY

In this talk I review three topics: (i) Heterotic strings from N=1 gauge theories; (ii) Planar equivalence and emergent center symmetry in QCD-like theories; (iii) Exact result for gluon scattering amplitudes in N=4 (dual conformality).

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arXiv2008

Skyrmions in Yang--Mills Theories with Massless Adjoint Quarks

Dynamics of SU(N_c) Yang--Mills theories with N_f adjoint Weyl fermions is quite different from that of SU(N_c) gauge theories with fundamental quarks. The symmetry breaking pattern is SU(N_f) --> SO(N_f). The corresponding sigma model supports Skyrmions whose microscopic identification is not immediately clear. We address this issue as well as the issue of the Skyrmion stability. The case of N_f=2 had been considered previously. Here we discuss N_f >= 3. We discuss the coupling between the massless Goldstone bosons and massive composite fermions (with mass O(N_c^0)) from the standpoint of the low-energy chiral sigma model. We derive the Wess--Zumino--Novikov--Witten term and then determine Skyrmion statistics. We also determine their fermion number (mod 2) and observe an abnormal relation between the statistics and the fermion number. This explains the Skyrmion stability. In addition, we consider another microscopic theory -- SO(N_c) Yang--Mills with N_f Weyl fermions in the vectorial representation -- which has the same chiral symmetry breaking pattern and the same chiral Lagrangian. We discuss distinctive features of these two scenarios.

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arXiv2008

Highly Excited Mesons, Linear Regge Trajectories and the Pattern of the Chiral Symmetry Realization

The chiral symmetry of QCD shows up in the linear Weyl--Wigner mode at short Euclidean distances or at high temperatures. On the other hand, low-lying hadronic states exhibit the nonlinear Nambu--Goldstone mode. An interesting question was raised as to whether the linear realization of the chiral symmetry is asymptotically restored for highly excited states. We address it in a number of ways. On the phenomenological side we argue that to the extent the meson Regge trajectories are observed to be linear and equidistant, the Weyl--Wigner mode is not realized. This picture is supported by quasiclassical arguments implying that the quark spin interactions in high excitations are weak, the trajectories are linear, and there is no chiral symmetry restoration. Then we use the string/gauge duality. In the top-down Sakai--Sugimoto construction the nonlinear realization of the chiral symmetry is built in. In the bottom-up AdS/QCD construction by Erlich et al., and Karch et al. the situation is more ambiguous. However, in this approach linearity and equidistance of the Regge trajectories can be naturally implemented, with the chiral symmetry in the Nambu--Goldstone mode. Asymptotic chiral symmetry restoration might be possible if a nonlinearity (convergence) of the Regge trajectories in an "intermediate window" of $n,J$, beyond the explored domain, takes place. This would signal the failure of the quasiclassical picture.

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arXiv2007

Non-Abelian Strings and the Luscher Term

We calculate the Luscher term for recently suggested non-Abelian flux tubes (strings). The main feature of the non-Abelian strings is the presence of orientational zero modes associated with rotation of their color flux inside a non-Abelian subgroup. The Luscher term is determined by the number of light degrees of freedom on the string wordsheet. Unlike the standard π/12 we get Nπ/12 for non-Abelian strings in the U(N) gauge theories. Thus, the Luscher coefficient acquires a dependence on the rank of the gauge group. In the models with non-Abelian strings discussed in the literature there are two distinct scales: the string tension ξ(the string thickness \sim ξ^{-1/2}) and the dynamical scale of strong interactions Λ. At weak coupling ξ\ggΛ^2. The Luscher term for non-Abelian strings experiences a jump: at ξ^{-1/2}\ll L\ll Λ^{-1} it is Nπ/12 while at at L\gg Λ^{-1} the orientational moduli are frozen out and the Luscher coefficient approaches its "Luscher" value π/12. We raise the question of possible extra (i.e. non-translational) light moduli on the worldsheet of QCD strings at large N.

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arXiv2007

Supersymmetric Q Solitons of Arbitrary Genus

We construct "Flying Saucer" solitons in supersymmetric N=2 gauge theory which is known to support BPS domain walls with a U(1) gauge field localized on its worldvolume. We demonstrate that this model supports exotic particle-like solitons whose topology is largely arbitrary: closed orientable surfaces in three-dimensional space which can have arbitrary genus. In particular, we focus on Q tori. Q tori and similar solitons of higher genera are obtained by folding the domain wall into an appropriate surface. Nontrivial cycles on the domain wall worldvolume (handles) are stabilized by crossed electric and magnetic fields inside the folded domain wall. Three distinct frameworks are used to prove the existence of these Flying Saucer solitons and study their properties: the worldvolume description (including the Dirac-Born-Infeld action), the bulk theory description in the sigma-model limit, and the bulk theory description in the thin-edge approximation. In the sigma-model framework the Q torus is shown to be related to the Hopf Skyrmion studied previously.

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arXiv2007

Composite non-Abelian Flux Tubes in N=2 SQCD

Composite non-Abelian vortices in N=2 supersymmetric U(2) SQCD are investigated. The internal moduli space of an elementary non-Abelian vortex is CP^1. In this paper we find a composite state of two coincident non-Abelian vortices explicitly solving the first order BPS equations. Topology of the internal moduli space T is determined in terms of a discrete quotient CP^2/Z_2. The spectrum of physical strings and confined monopoles is discussed. This gives indirect information about the sigma model with target space T.

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arXiv2007

Some Theoretical Developments in SUSY

I review theoretical developments of the last year or so in nonperturbative supersymmetry. Topics: (i) Metastable vacua at strong coupling; (ii) Non-Abelian flux tubes, confined monopoles; (iii) One step beyond Seiberg's duality; (iv) Planar equivalence; (v) Multileg/multiloop amplitudes; (vi) N= (2,0) sigma model on the string worldsheet.

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arXiv2007

Confinement in N=1 SQCD: One Step Beyond Seiberg's Duality

We consider N=1 supersymmetric quantum chromodynamics (SQCD) with the gauge group U(N_c) and N_c+N quark flavors. N_c flavors are massless; the corresponding squark fields develop (small) vacuum expectation values (VEVs) on the Higgs branch. Extra N flavors are endowed with small (and equal) mass terms. We study this theory through its Seiberg's dual: U(N) gauge theory with N_c +N flavors of "dual quark" fields plus a gauge-singlet mesonic field M. The original theory is referred to as "quark theory" while the dual one is termed "monopole theory." The suggested mild deformation of Seiberg's procedure changes the dynamical regime of the monopole theory from infrared free to asymptotically free at large distances. We show that, upon condensation of the "dual quarks," the dual theory supports non-Abelian flux tubes (strings). Seiberg's duality is extended beyond purely massless states to include light states on both sides. Being interpreted in terms of the quark theory, the monopole-theory flux tubes are supposed to carry chromoelectric fields. The string junctions -- confined monopole-theory monopoles -- can be viewed as "constituent quarks" of the original quark theory. We interpret closed strings as glueballs of the original quark theory. Moreover, there are string configurations formed by two junctions connected by a pair of different non-Abelian strings. These can be considered as constituent quark mesons of the quark theory.

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arXiv2007

Low-Energy Limit of Yang-Mills with Massless Adjoint Quarks: Chiral Lagrangian and Skyrmions

If the fundamental quarks of QCD are replaced by massless adjoint quarks, the pattern of the chiral symmetry breaking drastically changes compared to the standard one. It becomes SU(N_f) -> SO(N_f). While for N_f=2 the chiral Lagrangian describing the 'pion" dynamics is well-known, this is not the case at N_f>2. We outline a general strategy for deriving chiral Lagrangians for the coset spaces M_k=SU(k)/SO(k), and study in detail the case of N_f=k=3. We obtain two- and four-derivatives terms in the chiral Lagrangian on the coset space M_3 = SU(3)/SO(3), as well as the Wess-Zumino-Novikov-Witten term, in terms of an explicit parameterization of the quotient manifold. Then we discuss stable topological solitons supported by this Lagrangian. Aspects of relevant topological considerations scattered in the literature are reviewed. The same analysis applies to SO(N) gauge theories with N_f Weyl flavors in the vector representation.

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arXiv2007

Supersymmetric Solitons and How They Help Us Understand Non-Abelian Gauge Theories

In the last decade it became clear that methods and techniques based on supersymmetry provide deep insights in quantum chromodynamics and other supersymmetric and non-supersymmetric gauge theories at strong coupling. In this review we summarize major advances in the critical (Bogomol'nyi-Prasad-Sommerfeld-saturated, BPS for short) solitons in supersymmetric theories and their implications for understanding basic dynamical regularities of non-supersymmetric theories. After a brief introduction in the theory of critical solitons (including a historical introduction) we focus on three topics: (i) non-Abelian strings in N=2 and confined monopoles; (ii) reducing the level of supersymmetry; and (iii) domain walls as D brane prototypes.

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arXiv2007

Curves of Marginal Stability in Two-Dimensional CP(N-1) Models with Z_N-Symmetric Twisted Masses

We consider curves of marginal stability (CMS) in CP(N-1) models in two dimensions with N = (2, 2) supersymmetry. In these theories, one can introduce twisted mass terms. The BPS spectrum has different number of states in the weak and strong coupling regimes. This spectral restructuring can be explained by the fact that two regimes are separated by CMS on which some BPS states decay. We focus on a special case of Z_N-symmetric twisted masses. In this case, the general solution due to Dorey greatly simplifies, and CMS can be found explicitly. For small-$N$ values numerical results are presented. In the large-N limit, we find CMS analytically up to ln N /N corrections.

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arXiv2007

Supersymmetric Quantum Chromodynamics: How Confined Non-Abelian Monopoles Emerge from Quark Condensation

We consider N =1 supersymmetric QCD with the gauge group U(N) and N_f=N quark flavors. To get rid of flat directions we add a meson superfield. The theory has no adjoint fields and, therefore, no 't Hooft-Polyakov monopoles in the quasiclassical limit. We observe a non-Abelian Meissner effect: condensation of color charges (squarks) gives rise to confined monopoles. The very fact of their existence in N =1 supersymmetric QCD without adjoint scalars was not known previously. Our analysis is analytic and is based on the fact that the N =1 theory under consideration can be obtained starting from N =2 SQCD in which the 't Hooft-Polyakov monopoles do exist, through a certain limiting procedure allowing us to track the status of these monopoles at various stages. Monopoles are confined by BPS non-Abelian strings (flux tubes). Dynamics of string orientational zero modes are described by supersymmetric CP(N-1) sigma model on the string world sheet. If a dual of N =1 SQCD with the gauge group U(N) and N_f=N quark flavors could be identified, in this dual theory our demonstration would be equivalent to the proof of the non-Abelian dual Meissner effect.

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arXiv2007

The Hopf Skyrmion in QCD with Adjoint Quarks

We consider a modification of QCD in which conventional fundamental quarks are replaced by Weyl fermions in the adjoint representation of the color SU(N). In the case of two flavors the low-energy chiral Lagrangian is that of the Skyrme-Faddeev model. The latter supports topologically stable solitons with mass scaling as N^2. Topological stability is due to the existence of a nontrivial Hopf invariant in the Skyrme-Faddeev model. Our task is to identify, at the level of the fundamental theory, adjoint QCD, an underlying reason responsible for the stability of the corresponding hadrons. We argue that all "normal" mesons and baryons, with mass O(N^0), are characterized by (-1)^Q (-1)^F =1, where Q is a conserved charge corresponding to the unbroken U(1) surviving in the process of the chiral symmetry breaking (SU(2) \to U(1) for two adjoint flavors). Moreover, F is the fermion number (defined mod 2 in the case at hand). We argue that there exist exotic hadrons with mass O(N^2) and (-1)^Q (-1)^F = -1. They are in one-to-one correspondence with the Hopf Skyrmions. The transition from nonexotic to exotic hadrons is due to a shift in F, namely F \to F - {\cal H} where {\cal H} is the Hopf invariant. To detect this phenomenon we have to extend the Skyrme-Faddeev model by introducing fermions.

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