Large-N Reduction, Master Field and Loop Equations in Kazakov-Migdal Model

I study the large-N reduction a la Eguchi--Kawai in the Kazakov--Migdal lattice gauge model. I show that both quenching and twisting prescriptions lead to the coordinate-independent master field. I discuss properties of loop averages in reduced as well as unreduced models and demonstrate those coincide in the large mass expansion. I derive loop equations for the Kazakov--Migdal model at large N and show they are reduced for the quadratic potential to a closed set of two equations. I find an exact strong coupling solution of these equations for any D and extend the result to a more general interacting potential.Comment: 17 pages (1 Latex figure), ITEP-YM-6-92 The figure is replaced by printable on

Large-N Gauge Theories

Four pedagogical Lectures at the NATO-ASI on "Quantum Geometry" in Akureyri, Iceland, August 1999. Contents: 1. O(N) Vector Models, 2. Large-N QCD, 3. QCD in Loop Space, 4. Large-N ReductionComment: Lectures at the 1999 NATO-ASI on "Quantum Geometry" in Akureyri, Iceland; Latex, 69pp, 23 figure

Strings, Matrix Models, and Meanders

I briefly review the present status of bosonic strings and discretized random surfaces in D>1 which seem to be in a polymer rather than stringy phase. As an explicit example of what happens, I consider the Kazakov-Migdal model with a logarithmic potential which is exactly solvable for any D (at large D for an arbitrary potential). I discuss also the meander problem and report some new results on its representation via matrix models and the relation to the Kazakov-Migdal model. A supersymmetric matrix model is especially useful for describing the principal meanders.Comment: 12 pages, 4 Latex figures, uses espcrc2.sty Talk at the 29th Ahrenshoop Symp., Buckow, Germany, Aug.29 - Sep.2, 199

Critical Scaling and Continuum Limits in the D>1 Kazakov-Migdal Model

I investigate the Kazakov-Migdal (KM) model -- the Hermitean gauge-invariant matrix model on a D-dimensional lattice. I utilize an exact large-N solution of the KM model with a logarithmic potential to examine its critical behavior. I find critical lines associated with gamma_{string}=-1/2 and gamma_{string}=0 as well as a tri-critical point associated with a Kosterlitz-Thouless phase transition. The continuum theories are constructed expanding around the critical points. The one associated with gamma_{string}=0 coincides with the standard d=1 string while the Kosterlitz-Thouless phase transition separates it from that with gamma_{string}=-1/2 which is indistinguishable from pure 2D gravity for local observables but has a continuum limit for correlators of extended Wilson loops at large distances due to a singular behavior of the Itzykson-Zuber correlator of the gauge fields. I reexamine the KM model with an arbitrary potential in the large-D limit and show that it reduces at large N to a one-matrix model whose potential is determined self-consistently. A relation with discretized random surfaces is established via the gauged Potts model which is equivalent to the KM model at large N providing the coordination numbers coincide.Comment: 45pp., Latex, YM-4-9

QCD String as an Effective String

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.Comment: Talk: 12pp., 3 fig

Adjoint Fermions Induce QCD

We propose to induce QCD by fermions in the adjoint representation of the gauge group SU(N_c) on the lattice. We consider various types of lattice fermions: chiral, Kogut--Susskind and Wilson ones. Using the mean field method we show that a first order large-N phase transition occurs with decreasing fermion mass. We conclude, therefore, that adjoint fermions induce QCD. We draw the same conclusion for the adjoint scalar or fermion models at large number of flavors N_f when they induce a single-plaquette lattice gauge theory. We find an exact strong coupling solution for the adjoint fermion model and show it is quite similar to that for the Kazakov--Migdal model with the quadratic potential. We discuss the possibility for the adjoint fermion model to be solvable at N_c=\infty in the weak coupling region where the Wilson loops obey normal area law.Comment: 16 pages (1 Latex figure), ITEP-YM-7-92 (signs revised