QCD string is formed at the distances larger than the confinement scale and can be described by the Polchinski--Strominger effective string theory with a nonpolynomial action, which has nevertheless a well-defined semiclassical expansion around a long-string ground state. We utilize modern ideas about the Wilson-loop/scattering-amplitude duality to calculate scattering amplitudes and show that the expansion parameter in the effective string theory is small in the Regge kinematical regime. For the amplitudes we obtain the Regge behavior with a linear trajectory of the intercept (d-2)/24 in d dimensions, which is computed semiclassically as a momentum-space Luscher term, and discuss an application to meson scattering amplitudes in QCD.
I review the derivation of large-N QCD meson scattering amplitudes in the Regge regime, where the effective theory of long strings applies in d=4. A special attention is payed to the reparametrization path integral which plays a crucial role in the consistency of off-shell amplitudes. I show how the linear Reggeon trajectory is obtained for QCD string in the mean-field approximation, which turns out to be exact for the Nambu-Goto string, and discuss the interrelation with perturbative QCD.
String tension is introduced in perturbative QCD without hindering ultra violet renormalizability . The running gauge coupling constant remains unaltered and the string tension in the high energy limit vanishes asymptotically. Using 1/N techinique the theory can be explicitly analytically computable with cofinement built in . Spontaneous chiral symmetry breakdown along with its Goldstone is exhibited.
I explore the possibility of finding an equivalent string representation of two dimensional QCD. I develop the large N expansion of the ${\rm QCD_2}$ partition function on an arbitrary two dimensional Euclidean manifold. If this is related to a two-dimensional string theory then many of the coefficients of the ${1\over N}$ expansion must vanish. This is shown to be true to all orders, giving strong evidence for the existence of a string representation.
By using lessons learned from modern string studies, we show how interesting non-perturbative features of QCD can be learned from future heavy ion collisions even if the deconfinement density is not reached.
Using the recent solution of the triple Pomeron coupling in the QCD dipole picture as a closed string amplitude with six legs, its analytical form in terms of hypergeometric functions and numerical value are derived.
New developments in holographic QCD are described in this talk in the context of the correspondence between string states in AdS and light-front wavefunctions of hadronic states in physical space-time.
We propose an axionic QCD string scenario based on the original flux-tube model by Kogut and Susskind, and then incorporate it into a gauged Nambu-Jona-Lasinio (NJL) model. Axial anomaly is studied by a new topological coupling from the string side, and by the 't Hooft vortex from the NJL side, respectively. The nontrivial phase distribution of the quark condensate plays an important role in this scenario.
We compute the string tension in massive $QCD_2$. It is shown that the string tension vanishes when the mass of the dynamical quark is zero, with no dependence on the representations of the dynamical or of the external charges. When a small mass ($m\ll e$) is added, a tension appears and we calculate its value as a function of the representations.
The partition function of two dimensional QCD on a Riemann surface of area $A$ is expanded as a power series in $1/N$ and $A$. It is shown that the coefficients of this expansion are precisely determined by a sum over maps from a two dimensional surface onto the two dimensional target space. Thus two dimensional QCD has a simple interpretation as a closed string theory.
We show that topological superfluid strings/vortices with flux tubes exist in the color-flavor locked (CFL) phase of color superconductors. Using a Ginzburg-Landau free energy we find the configurations of these strings. These strings can form during the transition from the normal phase to the CFL phase at the core of very dense stars. We discuss an interesting scenario for a network of strings and its evolution at the core of dense stars.
We find a one to one mapping between low energy string dilaton states in AdS bulk and high energy glueball states on the corresponding boundary. This holographic mapping leads to a relation between bulk and boundary scattering amplitudes. From this relation and the dilaton action we find the appropriate momentum scaling for high energy QCD amplitudes at fixed angles.
We discuss new results in QCD obtained with string-based methods. These methods were originally derived from superstring theory and are significantly more efficient than conventional Feynman rules. This technology was a key ingredient in the first calculation of the one-loop five-gluon amplitude. We also present a conjecture for a particular one-loop helicity amplitude with an arbitrary number of external gluons.
By properly treating the path integral over the boundary value of the Liouville field (associated with reparametrizations of the boundary contour) in open string theory, we derive consistent off-shell scattering amplitudes in d=26 dimensions. In d<26 we consider a recently proposed boundary ansatz which reproduces a semiclassical correction to the classical string (known as the Luscher term) and obtain in the semiclassical approximation a linear Regge trajectory with the intercept (d-2)/24. We associate it with the quark-antiquark Regge trajectory in large-N QCD and explain why it dominates ov…
String theoretic axion is a prime candidate for the QCD axion solving the strong CP problem. For a successful realization of the QCD axion in string theory, one needs to stabilize moduli including the scalar partner (saxion) of the QCD axion, while keeping the QCD axion unfixed until the low energy QCD instanton effects are turned on. We note that a simple generalization of KKLT moduli stabilization provides such set-up realizing the axion solution to the strong CP problem. Although some details of moduli stabilization are different from the original KKLT scenario, this set-up leads to the mir…
Solving by a canonical string theory, of closed strings for the glueballs and open strings for the mesons, the 't Hooft large-$N$ expansion of QCD is a long-standing problem that resisted all the attempts despite the advent of the celebrated gauge/gravity duality in the framework of string theory. We demonstrate that in the canonical string framework such a solution does not actually exist because an inconsistency arises between the renormalization properties of the QCD S matrix at large $N$ -- a consequence of the asymptotic freedom (AF) -- and the open/closed duality of the would-be string s…
We propose a method to derive the low-energy efective action of QCD assuming that the long-distance properties of strong interactions can be described by a string theory. We bypass the usual problems related to the existence of the tachyon and absence of the adequate Adler zero by using a sigma model approach where excitations above the correct (chirally non-invariant) QCD vacuum are included. Two-dimensional conformal invariance then implies the vanishing of the O(p^4) effective lagrangian coefficients. We discuss ways to go beyond this limit.
Using the dipole picture describing the $1/N_C$ limit of QCD at small $x$ and the conformal invariance properties of the BFKL kernel in transverse coordinate space, we show that the 1->p dipole densities can be expressed in terms of dual Shapiro-Virasoro amplitudes B_{2p+2} and their generalization including non-zero conformal spins. We discuss the possibility of an effective closed string theory of interacting QCD dipoles.
We review some of the modern approaches to scattering amplitude computations in QCD and their application to precision LHC phenomenology. We emphasise the usefulness of momentum twistor variables in parameterising general amplitudes.
We present the decomposition of QCD partial amplitudes into primitive amplitudes at one-loop level and tree level for arbitrary numbers of quarks and gluons. Our method is based on shuffle relations. This method is purely combinatorial and does not require the inversion of a system of linear equations.
We construct a classical vortex string solution in a Seiberg-dual theory of N=1 supersymmetric SO(N_c) QCD which flows to a confining phase. We claim that this vortex string is a QCD string, as previouly argued by M.Strassler. In SO(N_c) QCD, it is known that stable QCD strings exist even in the presence of dynamical quarks. We show that our vortex strings are stable in the Seiberg-dual theory.
We review techniques simplifying the analytic calculation of one-loop QCD amplitudes with many external legs, for use in next-to-leading-order corrections to multi-jet processes. We explain how a supersymmetry-inspired organization works well in conjunction with other tools, namely the color and helicity decompositions of amplitudes, and the constraints imposed by perturbative unitarity and collinear singularities. String theory seems most useful as a heuristic guide. Using these techniques, the complete set of one-loop five-parton QCD amplitudes, as well as certain sequences of special helici…
We demonstrate that the Hagedorn-like growth of the number of observed meson states can be used to constrain the degrees of freedom of the underlying effective QCD string. We find that the temperature relevant for such string theories is not given by the usual Hagedorn value $T_H\approx 160$ MeV, but is considerably higher. This resolves an apparent conflict with the results from a static quark-potential analysis, and suggests that conformal invariance and modular invariance are indeed reflected in the hadronic spectrum. We also find that the $D_\perp=2$ scalar string is in excellent agreement…
Lattice simulation data on the critical temperature and long-distance potential, that probe the degrees of freedom of the QCD string, are critically reviewed. It is emphasized that comparison of experimental or SU(N_c) lattice data, at finite number of colors N_c, with free string theory can be misleading due to string interactions. Large-N_c extrapolation of pure lattice gauge theory data, in both 3 and 4 dimensions, indicates that there are more worldsheet degrees of freedom than the purely massless transverse ones of the free Nambu-Goto string. The extra variables are consistent with massiv…
We study meson spectrum obtained from massive open string modes in a holographic dual of QCD constructed on the basis of a D4/D8-brane configuration in type IIA string theory. The spectrum includes mesons with spin higher than one. Taking into account the effect of curved background perturbatively, we obtain a mass formula for these mesons, which exhibits the linear Regge behavior at the leading order with subleading non-linear corrections. We argue that the string spectrum captures some features of the observed meson spectrum. For example, a_2(1320), b_1(1235), π(1300), a_0(1450), etc., are i…
I consider two cases where QCD string is described by an effective theory of long strings: the static potential and meson scattering amplitudes in the Regge regime. I show how they can be solved in the mean-field approximation, justified by the large number of space-time dimensions, and argue that it turns out to be exact. I compare contributions from QCD string and perturbative QCD and discuss experimental consequences for the scattering amplitudes.
There are two cases where QCD string is described by an effective theory of long strings: the static potential and meson scattering amplitudes in the Regge regime. I show how the former can be solved in the mean-field approximation, justified by the large number of space-time dimensions, and argue that it turns out to be exact for the Nambu--Goto string. By adding extrinsic curvature I demonstrate how the tachyonic instability of the ground-state energy can be cured by operators less relevant in the infrared.
The Bern-Kosower formalism, developed around 1990 as a novel way of obtaining QCD amplitudes as the limit of infinite string tension of the corresponding string amplitudes, was originally designed as an on-shell formalism. Building on early work by Strassler, the authors have recently shown that this `string-inspired formalism' is extremely efficient also as a tool for the study of off-shell amplitudes in QCD, and in particular for achieving compact form factor decompositions of the N-gluon vertices. Among other things, this formalism allows one to achieve a manifestly gauge invariant decompos…
We numerically compute the spatial string tension in the deconfined phase of three dimensional QCD in the large N limit. Our results clearly show that the string tension grows linearly with temperature.
We show that all Born amplitudes in QCD can be calculated from scalar propagators and a set of three- and four-valent vertices. In particular, our approach includes amplitudes with any number of quark pairs. The quarks may be massless or massive. The proof of the formalism is given entirely within quantum field theory.
We calculate the complete set of two-loop leading-colour QCD helicity amplitudes for $γγj$-production at hadron colliders. Our results are presented in a compact, fully-analytical form.
Lattice studies indicate existence of magnetic strings in QCD vacuum. We argue that recently found nonabelian strings with rich worldsheet dynamics provide a proper pattern for the strings observed on the lattice. In particular, within this pattern we explain the localization of the monopole-antimonopole pairs on the magnetic string worldsheet and the negative contribution of the magnetic strings into the vacuum energy and gluon condensate. We suggest the D2 brane realization of the magnetic string which explains the temperature dependence of its tension.
These lectures trace the origin of string theory as a theory of hadronic interactions (predating QCD itself) to the present ideas on how the QCD string may arise in Superstring theory in a suitably deformed background metric. The contributions of 'tHooft's large Nc limit, Maldacena's String/Gauge duality conjecture and lattice spectral data are emphasized to motivate and hopefully guide further efforts to define a fundamental QCD string.
QCD strings originate from high-energy scattering in the form of Reggeons and Pomerons, and have been studied in some detail in lattice numerical simulations. Production of multiple strings, with their subsequent breaking, is now a mainstream model of high energy $pp$ and $pA$ collisions. Recent LHC experiments revealed that high multiplicity end of such collisions show interesting collective effects. This ignited an interest in the interaction of QCD strings and multi-string dynamics. Holographic models, collectively known as AdS/QCD, developed in the last decade, describe both hadronic spect…
We present the perturbative and non-perturbative QCD structure of the dipole-dipole scattering amplitude in momentum space. The perturbative contribution is described by two-gluon exchange and the non-perturbative contribution by the stochastic vacuum model which leads to confinement of the quark and antiquark in the dipole via a string of color fields. This QCD string gives important non-perturbative contributions to high-energy reactions. A new structure different from the perturbative dipole factors is found in the string-string scattering amplitude. The string can be represented as an inte…
We construct a consistent action for a massive spinning quark on the end of a QCD string that leads to pure Thomas precession of the quark's spin. The string action is modified by the addition of Grassmann degrees of freedom to the string such that the equations of motion for the quark spin follow from boundary conditions, just as do those for the quark's position.
We present results of modeling the temperature dependence of the spatial string tension and thermal phase transition in a five-dimensional framework nowadays known as AdS/QCD. For temperatures close to the critical one we find a behaviour remarkably consistent with the lattice results.
Using generic properties of string theories, we show how interesting non-perturbative features of QCD can be exploited in heavy ion collisions. In particular, a generalized "semi-circle" law for the phase diagram in the temperature-chemical potential plane is derived.
We show that, contrary to previous string models, the high-temperature behaviour of the recently proposed confining strings reproduces exactly the correct large-N QCD result, a {\it necessary} condition for any string model of confinement.
As argued by Witten on the basis of M-theory, QCD strings can end on domain walls. We present an explanation of this effect in the framework of effective field theories for the Polyakov loop and the gluino condensate in N=1 supersymmetric QCD. The domain walls separating confined phases with different values of the gluino condensate are completely wet by a layer of deconfined phase at the high-temperature phase transition. As a consequence, even at low temperatures, the Polyakov loop has a non-vanishing expectation value on the domain wall. Thus, close to the wall, the free energy of a static …
We present a simple proof that self-avoiding fermionic strings solve formally (in a quantum mechanical sense) the QCD(U(Nc)) Loop Wave Equation written in terms of random loops
In two dimensions large N QCD with quarks, defined on the plane, is equivalent to a modified string theory with quarks at the ends and taken in the zero fold sector. The equivalence that was established in 1975 was expressed in the form of an interacting string action that reproduces the spectrum and the 1/N interactions of 2D QCD. This action may be a starting point for an analytic continuation to a four dimensional string version of QCD. After reviewing the old work I discuss relations to recent developments in the pure QCD-string equivalence on more complicated background %geometries.
The AdS/CFT correspondence of elementary string theory has been recently suggested as a ``microscopic'' approach to QCD string theory in various dimensions. We use the microscopic theory to show that the ultraviolet regime on the string world-sheet is mapped to the ultraviolet effects in QCD. In the case of QCD_2, a world-sheet path integral representation of QCD strings is known, in terms of a topological rigid string theory whose world-sheet supersymmetry is reminiscent of Parisi-Sourlas supersymmetry. We conjecture that the supersymmetric rigid string theory is dual to the elementary Type I…
A criterion to be satisfied by a string theory of QCD is formulated in the ultraviolet regime. It arises from the trace anomaly of the QCD stress tensor computed using instantons. It is sensitive to asymptotic freedom. It appears to be related to the trace anomaly of the QCD string. Our current understanding of noncritical strings in physical dimensions is limited, but remarkably, a formal treatment of the bosonic string yields numerical agreement both in magnitude and sign for the gauge group SU(2).
I review the status of the issue of the k-string tension in Yang-Mills theory. After a summary of known facts I discuss a weakly coupled four-dimensional Yang-Mills theory that supports non-Abelian strings and can, in certain aspects, serve as a toy model for QCD strings. In the second part of the talk I present original results obtained in a two-dimensional toy model which provides some evidence for the sine formula.
We show that QCD$_2$ on 2D pseudo-manifolds is consistent with the Gross-Taylor string picture. It allows us to introduce a model describing the one-dimensional evolution of the QCD$_2$ string (in the sense that QCD$_2$ itself is regarded as a zero-dimensional system). The model is shown to possess the third order phase transition associated with the $c=1$ Bose string below which it becomes equivalent to the vortex-free sector of the 1-dimensional matrix model. We argue that it could serve as a toy model for the glueball-threshold behavior of multicolor QCD.
We consider a non-critical five dimensional string setup which could provide a dual description of QCD in the limit of large number of colors and flavors. The model corresponds to N_c color D3-branes and N_f D4/anti D4-brane pairs supporting flavor degrees of freedom. The matching of the string model spectrum with the dual field theory one is considered. We discuss the consequences of the possible matching of the gravity modes with the light glueballs and the interpretation of the brane spectrum in Yang-Mills and QCD.
Different types of non-Abelian vortex-strings appear in dense or hot QCD, both of which possess non-Abelian internal orientation zero modes. We calculate the interaction between them and find the universal repulsion for dense QCD (color superconductivity) and the dependence on the orientations for hot QCD (chirally broken phase). This is a review article based on our papers arXiv:0708.4092 and arXiv:0708.4096.
We study gauge/string duality with flavor degrees of freedom in type 0B string theory. We construct a model by placing the N_f probe D9_-/anti-D9_- brane pairs in the background of the N_c electric D3-branes. This model has some features in common with QCD, as in AdS/QCD model. By analyzing the effective action, we obtain the linear confinement behavior for the masses of the highly excited spin-1 mesons.
Surface critical phenomena and the related onset of Goldstone modes represent fundamental properties of the confining flux in Quantum Chromodynamics. New ideas on surface roughening and their implications for lattice studies of quark confinement and string formation are presented. Problems with a simple string description of the large Wilson surface are discussed.
We describe a way in which spin of quarks can enter a consistent QCD string theory. We show that the spin factor of the 4d massless, spin 1/2 fermions is related to the self-intersection number of a 2d surfaces immersed in the 4d space. We argue that the latter quantity should appear in a consistent description of the QCD string. We also calculate the chiral anomaly and show that the self-intersection number corresponds to the topological charge $F{\tilde F}$ of QCD.
QCD strings are color-electric flux tubes between quarks with a finite thickness and thus a finite curvature stiffness. Contrary to an earlier rigid-string by Polyakov and Kleinert, and motivated by the properties of a magnetic flux tubes in type-II superconductors we put forward the hypothesis that QCD strings have a {\em negative\/ stiffness. We set up a new string model with this property and show that it is free of the three principal problems of rigid-strings --- particle states with negative norm, nonexistence of a lowest-energy state, and wrong high-temperature behavior of string tensio…
It is challenging to quantify chaos of QCD, because non-perturbative QCD accompanies non-local observables. By using holography, we find that QCD strings at large $N_c$ and strong coupling limit exhibit chaos, and measure their Lyapunov exponent at zero temperature. A pair of a quark and an antiquark separated by $L_q$ in the large $N_c$ QCD is dual to a Nambu-Goto string hanging from the spatial boundary of the D4-soliton geometry. We numerically solve the motion of the string after putting a pulse force on its boundaries. The chaos is observed for the amplitude of the force larger than a cer…
Gauge field configurations appropriate for the infrared region of QCD are proposed in a submanifold of $su(3)$. Some properties of the submanifold are presented. Using the usual action for QCD, in the absense of quarks, confinement of these configurations is realized as in the London theory of Meissner effect. Choosing a representation for the monopole field strength, a string action corresponding to the effective gauge theory action in the infrared region, is obtained. This confining string action contains the Nambu-Goto term, extrinsic curvature action and the Euler characteristic of the str…
