The four dimensional $\mathcal{N}=4$ super-Yang-Mills (SYM) theory exhibits rich dynamics in the presence of codimension-one conformal defects. The new structure constants of the extended operator algebra consist of one-point functions of local operators which are nonvanishing due to the defect insertion and carry nontrivial coupling dependence. We study an important class of half-BPS superconformal defects engineered by D5 branes that share three common directions with the D3 branes and involve Nahm pole configurations for the SYM fields on the D3 brane worldvolume. In the planar large $N$ limit, we obtain non-perturbative results in the 't Hooft coupling $λ$ for the defect one-point functions of both BPS and non-BPS operators, building upon recent progress in localization and integrability methods. For BPS operator insertions in the SYM with D5-brane type boundary or interface, we derive an effective two dimensional defect-Yang-Mills (dYM) theory from supersymmetric localization, which gives an efficient way to extract defect observables and generates a novel matrix model for the defect one-point function. By solving the matrix model in the large $N$ limit, we obtain exact results in $λ$ which interpolate between perturbative Feynman diagram contributions in the weak coupling limit and IIB string theory predictions on $AdS_5\times S^5$ in the strong coupling regime, providing a precision test of AdS/CFT with interface defects. For general non-BPS operators, we develop a non-perturbative bootstrap-type program for integrable boundary states on the worldsheet of the IIB string theory, corresponding to the interface defects in the planar SYM. Such integrable boundary states are constrained by a set of general consistency conditions for which we present explicit solutions that reproduce and extend the known results at weak coupling from integrable spin-chain methods.
The planar Yang-Mills theory in three spatial dimensions is examined in a particular representation which explicitly embodies factorization. The effective planar Yang-Mills theory Hamiltonian is constructed in this representation.
Recent developments in the determination of the planar S-matrix of N=4 Super Yang-Mills are closely related to its Yangian symmetry. Here we provide evidence for a yet unobserved additional symmetry: the Yangian level-one helicity operator.
Planar N=4 supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory appears to be perturbatively integrable. This work reviews integrability in terms of a Yangian algebra and compares the application to the problems of anomalous dimensions and scattering amplitudes.
This paper focuses on a three-parameter deformation of N=4 Yang-Mills that breaks all the supersymmetry in the theory. We show that the resulting non-supersymmetric gauge theory is scale invariant, in the planar approximation, by proving that its Green functions are ultra-violet finite to all orders in light-cone perturbation theory.
We study excitations of LLM geometries. These geometries arise from the backreaction of a condensate of giant gravitons. Excitations of the condensed branes are open strings, which give rise to an emergent Yang-Mills theory at low energy. We study the dynamics of the planar limit of these emergent gauge theories, accumulating evidence that they are planar ${\cal N}=4$ super Yang-Mills. There are three observations supporting this conclusion: (i) we argue for an isomorphism between the planar Hilbert space of the original ${\cal N}=4$ super Yang-Mills and the planar Hilbert space of the emergen…
The scattering-matrix for planar Yang-Mills with N=4 supersymmetry relies on the assumption that integrability holds to all orders in perturbation theory. In this note we define a map from the spectral variables x^{\pm}, parameterizing the long-range magnon momenta, to couplings in a two-dimensional Ising model. Under this map integrability of planar N=4 Yang-Mills becomes equivalent to the Yang-Baxter equation for the two-dimensional Ising model, and the long-range variables x^{\pm} translate into the entries of the Ising transfer matrices. We explore the Ising correlation length which equals…
We extend previous work by developing a worldsheet description of non-abelian gauge theory (Yang-Mills). This task requires the introduction of Grassmann variables on the world sheet analogous to those of the Neveu-Schwarz-Ramond formulation of string theory. A highlight of our construction is that once the three gluon vertices of Yang-Mills Feynman diagrams are given a worldsheet description, the worldsheet formalism automatically produces all of the quartic vertices.
We study a marginal deformation of N=4 Yang-Mills, with a real deformation parameter beta. This beta-deformed model has only N=1 supersymmetry and a U(1)xU(1) flavor symmetry. The introduction of a new superspace star-product allows us to formulate the theory in N=4 light-cone superspace, despite the fact that it has only N=1 supersymmetry. We show that this deformed theory is conformally invariant, in the planar approximation, by proving that its Green functions are ultra-violet finite to all orders in perturbation theory.
A generalization of the two-dimensional Yang-Mills and generalized Yang-Mills theory is introduced in which the building B-F theory is nonlocal in the auxiliary field. The classical and quantum properties of this nonlocal generalization are investigated and it is shown that for large gauge groups, there exist a simple correspondence between the properties a nonlocal theory and its corresponding local theory.
The N=2* theory (mass deformation of N=4 Super-Yang-Mills) undergoes an infinite number of quantum phase transitions in the large-N limit. The phase structure and critical behavior can be analyzed with the help of supersymmetric localization, which reduces the problem to an effective matrix model. We study its strong-coupling phase.
We present the result of a full direct component calculation for the non-planar contribution to the four-loop anomalous dimension of the Konishi operator in N =4 Supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory. The result contains only zeta(5) term and is proportional to zeta(5) contribution in the planar case, which comes purely from wrapping corrections. We have extended also our previous calculations for the leading transcendental contribution arXiv:0811.0607 on non-planar case and have found the same results up to a common factor. It allows us to suggest that the non-planar contribution to the four-loop …
Using an infinite number of fields, we construct actions for D=4 self-dual Yang-Mills with manifest Lorentz invariance and for D=10 super-Yang-Mills with manifest super-Poincaré invariance. These actions are generalizations of the covariant action for the D=2 chiral boson which was first studied by McClain, Wu, Yu and Wotzasek.
We will discuss an integrable structure for weakly coupled superconformal Yang-Mills theories, describe certain equivalences for the Yangian algebra, and fill a technical gap in our previous study of this subject.
This review is devoted to collecting some results on the high spin expansion of (minimal) anomalous dimension. Thanks to the recent rationale on integrability, planar ${\cal N}=4$ super Yang-Mills theory (or its $\text{AdS}_5\times\text{S}^5$ string counterpart) represents a very practicable field. Here the attention will be restricted to its sector of twist operators, although the analysis tools are quite general (in integrable theories). Some structures and ideas turn out to be general also for other sectors or gauge theories.
The collinear factorization properties of two-loop scattering amplitudes in dimensionally-regulated N=4 super-Yang-Mills theory suggest that, in the planar ('t Hooft) limit, higher-loop contributions can be expressed entirely in terms of one-loop amplitudes. We demonstrate this relation explicitly for the two-loop four-point amplitude and, based on the collinear limits, conjecture an analogous relation for n-point amplitudes. The simplicity of the relation is consistent with intuition based on the AdS/CFT correspondence that the form of the large N_c L-loop amplitudes should be simple enough t…
Scattering amplitudes in superconformal field theories do not enjoy this symmetry, because the definition of asymptotic states involve a notion of infinity. Concentrating on planar $\mathcal{N}=4$ Yang-Mills, we consider a generalization of scattering amplitudes which depends on twice as many Grassmann variables. We conjecture that it restores at least half of the superconformal symmetries, and all of the dual superconformal symmetries. The object arises naturally as the dual of a null polygonal Wilson loop in an $(x,θ,\barθ)$ superspace. We support the conjecture by using it to obtain the tot…
The BCFW recursion relation in $\mathcal{N}=4$ super-Yang-Mills theory is solved using Yang-Baxter $R$-operators in the NMHV sector. Explicit expressions for $\mathcal{R}$-invariants are obtained in terms of the chains of $R$-operators acting on an appropriate basic state.
The large-N behavior of Yang-Mills and generalized Yang-Mills theories in the double-scaling limit is investigated. By the double-scaling limit, it is meant that the area of the manifold on which the theory is defined, is itself a function of N. It is shown that phase transitions of different orders occur, depending on the functional dependence of the area on N. The finite-size scalings of the system are also investigated. Specifically, the dependence of the dominant representation on A, for large but finite N is determined.
We present new relations for scattering amplitudes of color ordered gluons and gravitons in Einstein-Yang-Mills theory. Tree-level amplitudes of arbitrary multiplicities and polarizations involving up to three gravitons and up to two color traces are reduced to partial amplitudes of pure Yang-Mills theory. In fact, the double-trace identities apply to Einstein-Yang-Mills extended by a dilaton and a B-field. Our results generalize recent work of Stieberger and Taylor for the single graviton case with a single color trace. As the derivation is made in the dimension-agnostic Cachazo-He-Yuan forma…
We analyze in an effective Lagrangian framework the connection between Super QCD (Super Yang Mills) and QCD (Yang Mills) by highlighting the crucial role that the zero modes play in the process of decoupling gluinos and squarks.
We show that the solutions of SU(2) Yang-Mills-dilation and Einstein-Yang-Mills-dilaton theories described in a sequence of papers by Kleihaus and Kunz are not regular in the gauge field part.
The beta-deformation is one of the two superconformal deformations of the N=4 super-Yang-Mills theory. At the planar level it shares all of its properties except for supersymmetry, which is broken to the minimal amount. The tree-level amplitudes of this theory exhibit new features which depart from the commonly assumed properties of gauge theories with fields in the adjoint representation. We analyze in detail complete one-loop amplitudes and a nonplanar two-loop amplitude of this theory and show that, despite having only N=1 supersymmetry, two-loop amplitudes have a further-improved ultraviol…
The existence of a "bonus" U(1) level-one Yangian symmetry of N=4 super-Yang-Mills has recently been proposed. We provide evidence for this proposal by constructing the BRST-invariant nonlocal charge in the pure spinor sigma model corresponding to this bonus level-one symmetry. We also construct analogous charges for bonus U(1) symmetries at all odd levels of the Yangian.
We define a natural generalized symmetry of the Yang-Mills equations as an infinitesimal transformation of the Yang-Mills field, built in a local, gauge invariant, and Poincaré invariant fashion from the Yang-Mills field strength and its derivatives to any order, which maps solutions of the field equations to other solutions. On the jet bundle of Yang-Mills connections we introduce a spinorial coordinate system that is adapted to the solution subspace defined by the Yang-Mills equations. In terms of this coordinate system the complete classification of natural symmetries is carried out in a st…
For semisimple groups, possibly multiplied by U(1)'s, the number of Yang-Mills gauge fields is equal to the number of generators of the group. In this paper, it is shown that, for non-semisimple groups, the number of Yang-Mills fields can be larger. These additional Yang-Mills fields are not irrelevant because they appear in the gauge transformations of the original Yang-Mills fields. Such non-semisimple Yang-Mills theories may lead to physical consequences worth studying. The non-semisimple group with only two generators that do not commute is studied in detail.
Contour gauges are discussed in the framework of canonical formalism. We find flux operator algebras with the structure constants of underlying Yang-Mills theory.
Using the Cachazo-He-Yuan (CHY) formalism, we prove a recursive expansion of tree level single trace Einstein-Yang-Mills (EYM) amplitudes with arbitrary number of gluons and gravitons, which is valid for general spacetime dimensions and any helicity configurations. The recursion is written in terms of fewer-graviton EYM amplitudes and pure Yang-Mills (YM) amplitudes, which can be further carried out until we reach an expansion in terms of pure YM amplitudes in Kleiss-Kuijf (KK) basis. Our expansion then generates naturally a spanning tree structure rooted on gluons whose vertices are gravitons…
We consider non-planar one-loop anomalous dimensions in maximally supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory and its marginally deformed analogues. Using the basis of Bethe states, we compute matrix elements of the dilatation operator and find compact expressions in terms of off-shell scalar products and hexagon-like functions. We then use non-degenerate quantum-mechanical perturbation theory to compute the leading $1/N^2$ corrections to operator dimensions and as an example compute the large $R$-charge limit for two-excitation states through subleading order in the $R$-charge. Finally, we numerically s…
We study structure constants of gauge invariant operators in planar N=4 Yang-Mills at one loop with the motivation of determining features of the string dual of weak coupling Yang-Mills. We derive a simple renormalization group invariant formula characterizing the corrections to structure constants of any primary operator in the planar limit. Applying this to the scalar SO(6) sector we find that the one loop corrections to structure constants of gauge invariant operators is determined by the one loop anomalous dimension Hamiltonian in this sector. We then evaluate the one loop corrections to s…
This article contains lecture notes of M. Shifman from the Saalburg Summer School 2004. The topic is supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory, in particular the gluino condensate in pure SUSY gluodynamics.
We construct a four-parameter class of self-dual instanton solutions of the classical SU(2)-Yang-Mills equations in a closed Euclidean Robertson-Walker space-time.
Using the first order formalism (BFYM) of the Yang-Mills theory we show that it displays an embedded topological sector corresponding to the field content of the Topological Yang-Mills theory (TYM). This picture arises after a proper redefinition of the fields of BFYM and gives a clear representation of the non perturbative part of the theory in terms of the topological sector. In this setting the calculation of the $vev$ of a YM observable is translated into the calculation of a corresponding (non topological) quantity in TYM. We then compare the topological observables of TYM with a similar …
The large-group behavior of the nonlocal YM$_2$'s and gYM$_2$'s on a cylinder or a disk is investigated. It is shown that this behavior is similar to that of the corresponding local theory, but with the area of the cylinder replaced by an effective area depending on the dominant representation. The critical areas for nonlocal YM$_2$'s on a cylinder with some special bounary conditions are also obtained.
Recently, Witten proposed a topological string theory in twistor space that is dual to a weakly coupled gauge theory. In this lectures we will discuss aspects of the twistor string theory. Along the way we will learn new things about Yang-Mills scattering amplitudes. The string theory sheds light on Yang-Mills perturbation theory and leads to new methods for computing Yang-Mills scattering amplitudes.
It is known that the Yangian of PSU(2,2|4) is a symmetry of the tree-level S-matrix of N=4 super Yang-Mills. On the other hand, the complete one-loop dilatation operator in the same theory commutes with the level-one Yangian generators only up to certain boundary terms found by Dolan, Nappi and Witten. Using a result by Zwiebel, we show how the Yangian symmetry of the tree-level S-matrix of N=4 super Yang-Mills implies precisely the Yangian invariance, up to boundary terms, of the one-loop dilatation operator.
We propose $N=2$ holomorphic Yang-Mills theory on compact Kähler manifolds and show that there exists a simple mapping from the $N=2$ topological Yang-Mills theory. It follows that intersection parings on the moduli space of Einstein-Hermitian connections can be determined by examining the small coupling behavior of the $N=2$ holomorphic Yang-Mills theory. This paper is a higher dimensional generalization of the Witten's work on physical Yang-Mills theory in two dimensions.
We conjecture that every rational Yangian invariant in N=4 SYM theory satisfies a recently introduced notion of cluster adjacency. We provide evidence for this conjecture by using the Sklyanin Poisson bracket on Gr(4,n) to check numerous examples.
The self-duality Yang-Mills equations in pseudoeuclidean spaces of dimensions $d\leq 8$ are investigated. New classes of solutions of the equations are found. Extended solutions to the D=10, N=1 supergravity and super Yang-Mills equations are constructed from these solutions.
Strongly self-dual Yang-Mills fields in even dimensional spaces are characterised by a set of constraints on the eigenvalues of the Yang-Mills fields $F_{μν}$. We derive a topological bound on ${\bf R}^8$, $\int_{M} ( F,F )^2 \geq k \int_{M} p_1^2$ where $p_1$ is the first Pontrjagin class of the SO(n) Yang-Mills bundle and $k$ is a constant. Strongly self-dual Yang-Mills fields realise the lower bound.
We write a gravity theory with Yang-Mills type action using the biconformal gauging of the conformal group. We show that the resulting biconformal Yang-Mills gravity theories describe 4-dim, scale-invariant general relativity in the case of slowly changing fields. In addition, we systematically extend arbitrary 4-dim Yang-Mills theories to biconformal space, providing a new arena for studying flat space Yang-Mills theories. By applying the biconformal extension to a 4-dim pure Yang-Mills theory with conformal symmetry, we establish a 1-1, onto mapping between a set of gravitational gauge theor…
We investigate Yang-Mills instantons on a 7-dimensional manifold of G_2 holonomy. By proposing a spherically symmetric ansatz for the Yang-Mills connection, we have ordinary differential equations as the reduced instanton equation, and give some explicit and numerical solutions.
We derive a set of first-order differential equations obeyed by the S-matrix of planar maximally supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory. The equations, based on the Yangian symmetry of the theory, involve only finite and regulator-independent quantities and uniquely determine the all-loop S-matrix. When expanded in powers of the coupling they give derivatives of amplitudes as single integrals over lower-loop, higher-point amplitudes/Wilson loops. We outline a derivation for the equations using the Operator Product Expansion for Wilson loops. We apply them on a few examples at two- and three-loops, r…
The analysis in previous publications of the instanton constraints required to produce a finite action of the theory is carried out also for N=2 supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory.
Non-commutative supersymmetric Yang-Mills with rational Theta is dual to an ordinary supersymmetric Yang-Mills with a 't Hooft flux. It is believed that the simplest description is via the ordinary supersymmetric Yang-Mills. We claim, however, that the two descriptions form a hierarchy. The SYM description is the proper description in the ultra violet while the non-commutative description takes over in the infra red.
We consider a Yang-Mills theory in loop space with an affine Lie gauge group. The Chapline-Manton coupling, the coupling between Yang-Mills fields and an abelian antisymmetric tensor field of second rank via the Chern-Simons term, is systematically derived within the framework of the Yang-Mills theory. The generalized Chapline-Manton couplings, the couplings among non-abelian tensor fields of second rank, Yang-Mills fields, and an abelian tensor field of third rank, are also derived by applying the non-linear realization method to the Yang-Mills theory. These couplings are accompanied by {\it …
We consider the Yang-Mills flow equations on a reductive coset space G/H and the Yang-Mills equations on the manifold R x G/H. On nonsymmetric coset spaces G/H one can introduce geometric fluxes identified with the torsion of the spin connection. The condition of G-equivariance imposed on the gauge fields reduces the Yang-Mills equations to phi^4-kink equations on R. Depending on the boundary conditions and torsion, we obtain solutions to the Yang-Mills equations describing instantons, chains of instanton-anti-instanton pairs or modifications of gauge bundles. For Lorentzian signature on R x G…
In this short note I show that the soft limit for colour-ordered tree-level Yang-Mills amplitudes contains a sub-leading divergent term analogous to terms found recently by Cachazo and Strominger for tree-level gravity amplitudes.
