The Bethe ansatz for superconformal Chern-Simons

We study the anomalous dimensions for scalar operators for a three-dimensional Chern-Simons theory recently proposed in arXiv:0806.1218. We show that the mixing matrix at two-loop order is that for an integrable Hamiltonian of an SU(4) spin chain with sites alternating between the fundamental and the anti-fundamental representations. We find a set of Bethe equations from which the anomalous dimensions can be determined and give a proposal for the Bethe equations to the full superconformal group of OSp(2,2|6).Comment: 22 pages, 9 figures; v2 Overall normalization of the Hamiltonian corrected and missing diagram contributing to two-site interactions included. Typos fixed; v3 Figure 8 corrected; v4 Misprints corrected; v5 Correct figures recovered. Published version; v6: misprints in (3.15), (3.16), (3.17) correcte

Classical Solutions for Two Dimensional QCD on the Sphere

We consider $U(N)$ and $SU(N)$ gauge theory on the sphere. We express the problem in terms of a matrix element of $N$ free fermions on a circle. This allows us to find an alternative way to show Witten's result that the partition function is a sum over classical saddle points. We then show how the phase transition of Douglas and Kazakov occurs from this point of view. By generalizing the work of Douglas and Kazakov, we find other `stringy' solutions for the $U(N)$ case in the large $N$ limit. Each solution is described by a net $U(1)$ charge. We derive a relation for the maximum charge for a given area and we also describe the critical behavior for these new solutions. Finally, we describe solutions for lattice $SU(N)$ which are in a sense dual to the continuum $U(N)$ solutions. (Parts of this paper were presented at the Strings '93 Workshop, Berkeley, May 1993.)Comment: 26 pages, CERN-TH-7016, UVA-HET-93-0

Quark Potentials in the Higgs Phase of Large N Supersymmetric Yang-Mills Theories

We compute, in the large N limit, the quark potential for ${\cal N}=4$ supersymmetric SU(N) Yang-Mills theory broken to $SU(N_1) \times SU(N_2)$. At short distances the quarks see only the unbroken gauge symmetry and have an attractive potential that falls off as 1/L. At longer distances the interquark interaction is sensitive to the symmetry breaking, and other QCD states appear. These states correspond to combinations of the quark-antiquark pair with some number of W-particles. If there is one or more W-particles then this state is unstable because of the coulomb interaction between the W-particles and between the W's and the quarks. As L is decreased the W-particles delocalize and these coulomb branches merge onto a branch with a linear potential. The quarks on this branch see the unbroken gauge group, but the flux tube is unstable to the production of W-particles.Comment: 23 pages, 7 figures, harvmac (b

Simple Calculation of Instanton Corrections in Massive N=2 SU(3) SYM

We give an explicit derivation of the Picard-Fuchs equations for N=2 supersymmetric SU(3) Yang-Mills theory with $N_f<6$ massive hypermultiplets in the fundamental representation. We determine the instanton corrections to the prepotential in the weak coupling region using the relation between \tr and the prepotential. This method can be generalized to other gauge groups.Comment: 16 pages, Late

Seiberg-Witten prepotential for E-string theory and random partitions

We find a Nekrasov-type expression for the Seiberg-Witten prepotential for the six-dimensional non-critical E_8 string theory toroidally compactified down to four dimensions. The prepotential represents the BPS partition function of the E_8 strings wound around one of the circles of the toroidal compactification with general winding numbers and momenta. We show that our expression exhibits expected modular properties. In particular, we prove that it obeys the modular anomaly equation known to be satisfied by the prepotential.Comment: 14 page

Magnon dispersion to four loops in the ABJM and ABJ models

The ABJM model is a superconformal Chern-Simons theory with N=6 supersymmetry which is believed to be integrable in the planar limit. However, there is a coupling dependent function that appears in the magnon dispersion relation and the asymptotic Bethe ansatz that is only known to leading order at strong and weak coupling. We compute this function to four loops in perturbation theory by an explicit Feynman diagram calculation for both the ABJM model and the ABJ extension. We find that all coefficients have maximal transcendentality. We then compute the four-loop wrapping correction for a scalar operator in the 20 of SU(4) and find that it agrees with a recent prediction from the ABJM Y-system of Gromov, Kazakov and Vieira. We also propose a limit of the ABJ model that might be perturbatively integrable at all loop orders but has a short range Hamiltonian.Comment: LaTeX, feynmp, 17 pages; v2: coupling factor in one Feynman diagram corrected: modified result in the ABJ case only, formulations improved, typos fixed, references added; v3: signs of three diagrams corrected, modifying the final resul