On Classification of QCD defects via holography

We discuss classification of defects of various codimensions within a holographic model of pure Yang-Mills theories or gauge theories with fundamental matter. We focus on their role below and above the phase transition point as well as their weights in the partition function. The general result is that objects which are stable and heavy in one phase are becoming very light (tensionless) in the other phase. We argue that the $\theta$ dependence of the partition function drastically changes at the phase transition point, and therefore it correlates with stability properties of configurations. Some possible applications for study the QCD vacuum properties above and below phase transition are also discussed.Comment: 21 pages, 2 figure

Particle decay in false vacuum

We revisit the problem of decay of a metastable vacuum induced by the presence of a particle. For the bosons of the `master field' the problem is solved in any number of dimensions in terms of the spontaneous decay rate of the false vacuum, while for a fermion we find a closed expression for the decay rate in (1+1) dimensions. It is shown that in the (1+1) dimensional case an infrared problem of one-loop correction to the decay rate of a boson is resolved due to a cancellation between soft modes of the field. We also find the boson decay rate in the `sine-Gordon staircase' model in the limits of strong and weak coupling.Comment: 19 pages, 2 figure

More on the Tensor Response of the QCD Vacuum to an External Magnetic Field

In this Letter we discuss a few issues concerning the magnetic susceptibility of the quark condensate and the Son-Yamamoto (SY) anomaly matching equation. It is shown that the SY relation in the IR implies a nontrivial interplay between the kinetic and WZW terms in the chiral Lagrangian. It is also demonstrated that in a holographic framework an external magnetic field triggers mixing between scalar and tensor fields. Accounting for this, one may calculate the magnetic susceptibility of the quark condensate to all orders in the magnetic field.Comment: 20 pages, 2 figure

On Integrable Systems and Supersymmetric Gauge Theories

The properties of the N=2 SUSY gauge theories underlying the Seiberg-Witten hypothesis are discussed. The main ingredients of the formulation of the finite-gap solutions to integrable equations in terms of complex curves and generating 1-differential are presented, the invariant sense of these definitions is illustrated. Recently found exact nonperturbative solutions to N=2 SUSY gauge theories are formulated using the methods of the theory of integrable systems and where possible the parallels between standard quantum field theory results and solutions to integrable systems are discussed.Comment: LaTeX, 38 pages, no figures; based on the lecture given at INTAS School on Advances in Quantum Field Theory and Statistical Mechanics, Como, Italy, 1996; minor changes, few references adde

On Microscopic Origin of Integrability in Seiberg-Witten Theory

We discuss microscopic origin of integrability in Seiberg-Witten theory, following mostly the results of hep-th/0612019, as well as present their certain extension and consider several explicit examples. In particular, we discuss in more detail the theory with the only switched on higher perturbation in the ultraviolet, where extra explicit formulas are obtained using bosonization and elliptic uniformization of the spectral curve.Comment: 24 pages, 1 figure, LaTeX, based on the talks at 'Geometry and Integrability in Mathematical Physics', Moscow, May 2006; 'Quarks-2006', Repino, May 2006; Twente conference on Lie groups, December 2006 and 'Classical and Quantum Integrable Models', Dubna, January 200

Integrability in QCD and beyond

Yang--Mills theories in four space-time dimensions possess a hidden symmetry which does not exhibit itself as a symmetry of classical Lagrangians but is only revealed on the quantum level. It turns out that the effective Yang--Mills dynamics in several important limits is described by completely integrable systems that prove to be related to the celebrated Heisenberg spin chain and its generalizations. In this review we explain the general phenomenon of complete integrability and its realization in several different situations. As a prime example, we consider in some detail the scale dependence of composite (Wilson) operators in QCD and super-Yang--Mills (SYM) theories. High-energy (Regge) behavior of scattering amplitudes in QCD is also discussed and provides one with another realization of the same phenomenon that differs, however, from the first example in essential details. As the third example, we address the low-energy effective action in a N=2 SYM theory which, contrary to the previous two cases, corresponds to a classical integrable model. Finally, we include a short overview of recent attempts to use gauge/string duality in order to relate integrability of Yang--Mills dynamics with the hidden symmetry of a string theory on a curved background.Comment: 87 pages, 4 figures; minor stylistic changes, references added. To be published in the memorial volume 'From Fields to Strings: Circumnavigating Theoretical Phyiscs', World Scientific, 2004. Dedicated to the memory of Ian Koga

Elliptic Ruijsenaars-Schneider model via the Poisson reduction of the Affine Heisenberg Double

It is shown that the elliptic Ruijsenaars-Schneider model can be obtained from the affine Heisenberg Double by means of the Poisson reduction procedure. The dynamical $r$-matrix naturally appears in the construction.Comment: latex, 15 pages, a new section is added where we show that the problem of solving the equations of motion is equivalent to the factorization proble

Catalyzed decay of false vacuum in four dimensions

The probability of destruction of a metastable vacuum state by the field of a highly virtual particle with energy $E$ is calculated for a (3+1) dimensional theory in the leading WKB approximation in the thin-wall limit. It is found that the induced nucleation rate of bubbles, capable of expansion, is exponentially small at any energy. The negative exponential power in the rate reaches its maximum at the energy, corresponding to the top of the barrier in the bubble energy, where it is a finite fraction of the same power in the probability of the spontaneous decay of the false vacuum, i.e. at $E=0$.Comment: 9 pages (standard LaTeX)+ 3 figures (one figure in LaTeX, two are appended in PostScript). TPI-MINN-92/31-

Dualities in Quantum Hall System and Noncommutative Chern-Simons Theory

We discuss different dualities of QHE in the framework of the noncommutative Chern-Simons theory. First, we consider the Morita or T-duality transformation on the torus which maps the abelian noncommutative CS description of QHE on the torus into the nonabelian commutative description on the dual torus. It is argued that the Ruijsenaars integrable many-body system provides the description of the QHE with finite amount of electrons on the torus. The new IIB brane picture for the QHE is suggested and applied to Jain and generalized hierarchies. This picture naturally links 2d $\sigma$-model and 3d CS description of the QHE. All duality transformations are identified in the brane setup and can be related with the mirror symmetry and S duality. We suggest a brane interpretation of the plateu transition in IQHE in which a critical point is naturally described by $SL(2,R)$ WZW model.Comment: 31 pages, 4 figure

Exponentiation of Multiparticle Amplitudes in Scalar Theories

It is argued that the amplitudes of the production of $n$ soft scalar particles by one or a few energetic ones in theories like $\lambda\phi^4$ has the exponential form, $A_n\propto\sqrt{n!}\exp[{1\over\lambda}F(\lambda n,\epsilon)]$, in the regime $\lambda\to 0$, $\lambda n={fixed}$, $\epsilon={fixed}$, where $\epsilon$ is the typical kinetic energy of outgoing particles. Existing results support this conjecture. Several new analytical and numerical results in favor of the exponential behavior of multiparticle amplitudes are presented.Comment: Revtex 3.0, 45 pages, 11 figures (some requires bezier.sty, two postscript figures appended after \end{document}), INR-866/9