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Journal ArticleDOI

The Thermal Free Energy in Large N Chern-Simons-Matter Theories

20 Mar 2013-Journal of High Energy Physics (Springer Verlag)-Vol. 2013, Iss: 3, pp 121
TL;DR: In this paper, the thermal free energy in large N U(N) Chern-Simons-matter theories with matter fields (scalars and/or fermions) in the fundamental representation, in the large temperature limit, was computed.
Abstract: We compute the thermal free energy in large N U(N) Chern-Simons-matter theories with matter fields (scalars and/or fermions) in the fundamental representation, in the large temperature limit. We note that in these theories the eigenvalue distribution of the holonomy of the gauge field along the thermal circle does not localize even at very high temperatures, and this affects the computation significantly. We verify that our results are consistent with the conjectured dualities between Chern-Simons-matter theories with scalar fields and with fermion fields, as well as with the strong-weak coupling duality of the $\mathcal{N}=2$ supersymmetric Chern-Simons-matter theory.
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the progress, current status, and open challenges of QCD-driven physics, in theory and in experiment, are highlighted, highlighting how the strong interaction is intimately connected to a broad sweep of physical problems, in settings ranging from astrophysics and cosmology to strongly coupled, complex systems in particle and condensed-matter physics, as well as searches for physics beyond the Standard Model.
Abstract: We highlight the progress, current status, and open challenges of QCD-driven physics, in theory and in experiment. We discuss how the strong interaction is intimately connected to a broad sweep of physical problems, in settings ranging from astrophysics and cosmology to strongly coupled, complex systems in particle and condensed-matter physics, as well as to searches for physics beyond the Standard Model. We also discuss how success in describing the strong interaction impacts other fields, and, in turn, how such subjects can impact studies of the strong interaction. In the course of the work we offer a perspective on the many research streams which flow into and out of QCD, as well as a vision for future developments.

433 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, a web of dualities in 2 + 1 dimensions is presented, which generalize the known particle/vortex duality. But it is not clear how time reversal is realized in these dualities.

405 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, it was shown that in its simplest form the duality maps SU(N ) theories to U(k) theories, though there is also another version relating SU(n ) to U (k), and this precise form strongly affects the mapping under the Duality of baryon and monopole operators.
Abstract: There is significant evidence for a duality between (non-supersymmetric) U(N ) Chern-Simons theories at level k coupled to fermions, and U(k) Chern-Simons theories at level N coupled to scalars. Most of the evidence comes from the large N ’t Hooft limit, where many details of the duality (such as whether the gauge group is U(N ) or SU(N ), the precise level of the U(1) factor, and order one shifts in the level) are not important. The main evidence for the validity of the duality at finite N comes from adding masses and flowing to pure Chern-Simons theories related by level-rank duality, and from flowing to the non-supersymmetric duality from supersymmetric dualities, whose finite N validity is well-established. In this note we clarify the implications of these flows for the precise form of the duality; in particular we argue that in its simplest form the duality maps SU(N ) theories to U(k) theories, though there is also another version relating U(N ) to U(k). This precise form strongly affects the mapping under the duality of baryon and monopole operators, and we show, following arguments by Radicevic, that their mapping is consistent with our claims. We also discuss the implications of our results for the additional duality between these Chern-Simons matter theories and (the UV completion of) high-spin gravity theories on AdS 4. The latter theories should contain heavy particles carrying electric and/or magnetic charges under their U(1) gauge symmetry.

235 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the thermal free energy for all renormalizable Chern Simon the-Ories coupled to a single fundamental bosonic and fermionic field in the T Hooft large N limit was derived.
Abstract: We compute the thermal free energy for all renormalizable Chern Simon the- ories coupled to a single fundamental bosonic and fermionic field in the 't Hooft large N limit. We use our results to conjecture a strong weak coupling duality invariance for this class of theories. Our conjectured duality reduces to Giveon Kutasov duality when restricted to N = 2 supersymmetric theories and to an earlier conjectured bosonization duality in an appropriate decoupling limit. Consequently the bosonization duality may be regarded as a deformation of Giveon Kutasov duality, suggesting that it is true even at large but finite N.

183 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the global symmetries of various (2 + 1)d quantum field theories are analyzed in detail and couple them to classical background gauge fields, thus finding more subtle observables.
Abstract: We analyze in detail the global symmetries of various (2 + 1)d quantum field theories and couple them to classical background gauge fields. A proper identification of the global symmetries allows us to consider all non-trivial bundles of those background fields, thus finding more subtle observables. The global symmetries exhibit interesting ’t Hooft anomalies. These allow us to constrain the IR behavior of the theories and provide powerful constraints on conjectured dualities.

170 citations

References
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, it was shown that 2+1 dimensional quantum Yang-Mills theory with an action consisting purely of the Chern-Simons term is exactly soluble and gave a natural framework for understanding the Jones polynomial of knot theory in three dimensional terms.
Abstract: It is shown that 2+1 dimensional quantum Yang-Mills theory, with an action consisting purely of the Chern-Simons term, is exactly soluble and gives a natural framework for understanding the Jones polynomial of knot theory in three dimensional terms. In this version, the Jones polynomial can be generalized fromS 3 to arbitrary three manifolds, giving invariants of three manifolds that are computable from a surgery presentation. These results shed a surprising new light on conformal field theory in 1+1 dimensions.

5,093 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors constructed three dimensional Chern-Simons-matter theories with gauge groups U(N) × U(n) and SU(N), SU(2) × SU (2) which have explicit = 6 superconformal symmetry.
Abstract: We construct three dimensional Chern-Simons-matter theories with gauge groups U(N) × U(N) and SU(N) × SU(N) which have explicit = 6 superconformal symmetry. Using brane constructions we argue that the U(N) × U(N) theory at level k describes the low energy limit of N M2-branes probing a C4/Zk singularity. At large N the theory is then dual to M-theory on AdS4 × S7/Zk. The theory also has a 't Hooft limit (of large N with a fixed ratio N/k) which is dual to type IIA string theory on AdS4 × CP3. For k = 1 the theory is conjectured to describe N M2-branes in flat space, although our construction realizes explicitly only six of the eight supersymmetries. We give some evidence for this conjecture, which is similar to the evidence for mirror symmetry in d = 3 gauge theories. When the gauge group is SU(2) × SU(2) our theory has extra symmetries and becomes identical to the Bagger-Lambert theory.

3,091 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, a general relation between theories of infinite number of higher-spin massless gauge fields in AdS d + 1 and large N conformal theories in d dimensions containing N -component vector fields was proposed.

1,260 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors discuss the canonical quantization of the Chern-Simons-Witten theory on several interesting surfaces and the connection to the related two-dimensional theory is illustrated from different points of view.

918 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, it was shown that weakly coupled, large $N, d$-dimensional supersymmetric Yang-Mills theories on a class of compact spatial manifolds undergo deconfinement phase transitions at temperatures proportional to the inverse length scale of the manifold in question.
Abstract: We demonstrate that weakly coupled, large $N, d$-dimensional $SU(N)$ gauge theories on a class of compact spatial manifolds (including $S^{d-1}\times {\rm time}$) undergo deconfinement phase transitions at temperatures proportional to the inverse length scale of the manifold in question The low temperature phase has a free energy of order one, and is characterized by a stringy (Hagedorn) growth in its density of states The high temperature phase has a free energy of order $N^2$ These phases are separated either by a single first order transition that generically occurs below the Hagedorn temperature or by two continuous phase transitions, the first of which occurs at the Hagedorn temperature These phase transitions could perhaps be continuously connected to the usual flat space deconfinement transition in the case of confining gauge theories, and to the Hawking-Page nucleation of $AdS_5$ black holes in the case of the $\mathcal{N}=4$ supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory We suggest that deconfinement transitions may generally be interpreted in terms of black hole formation in a dual string theory Our analysis proceeds by first reducing the Yang-Mills partition function to a $(0+0)$-dimensional integral over a unitary matrix $U$, which is the holonomy (Wilson loop) of the gauge field around the thermal time circle in Euclidean space; deconfinement transitions are large $N$ transitions in this matrix integral

772 citations