Domain walls in high-T SU(N) super Yang-Mills theory and QCD(adj)

Anber, Mohamed M.; Poppitz, Erich

Abstract

We study the domain walls in hot 4-D SU(N) super Yang-Mills theory and QCD(adj), with nf Weyl flavors. We find that the k-wall worldvolume theory is 2-D QCD with gauge group SU(N − k) × SU(k) × U(1) and Dirac fermions charged under U(1) and transforming in the bi-fundamental representation of the nonabelian factors. We show that the DW theory has a 1-form ℤ (1) N center symmetry and a 0-form Zdχ2Nnf discrete chiral symmetry, with a mixed ’t Hooft anomaly consistent with bulk/wall anomaly inflow. We argue that ℤ (1) N is broken on the wall, and hence, Wilson loops obey the perimeter law. The breaking of the worldvolume center symmetry implies that bulk p-strings can end on the wall, a phenomenon first discovered using string-theoretic constructions. We invoke 2-D bosonization and gauged Wess-Zumino-Witten models to suggest that Zdχ2Nnf is also broken f in the IR, which implies that the 0-form/1-form mixed ’t Hooft anomaly in the gapped k-wall theory is saturated by a topological quantum field theory. We also find interesting parallels between the physics of high-temperature domain walls studied here and domain walls between chiral symmetry breaking vacua in the zero temperature phase of the theory (studied earlier in the semiclassically calculable small spatial circle regime), arising from the similar mode of saturation of the relevant ’t Hooft anomalies.

Citation

Anber, M. M., & Poppitz, E. (2019). Domain walls in high-T SU(N) super Yang-Mills theory and QCD(adj). Journal of High Energy Physics, 2019(5), Article 151. https://doi.org/10.1007/jhep05%282019%29151

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: May 7, 2019
• Online Publication Date: May 23, 2019
• Publication Date: 2019
• Deposit Date: Oct 3, 2021
• Publicly Available Date: Oct 4, 2021
• Journal: Journal of High Energy Physics
• Print ISSN: 1126-6708
• Electronic ISSN: 1029-8479
• Publisher: Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati (SISSA)
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 2019
• Issue: 5
• Article Number: 151
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/jhep05%282019%29151
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1232409