Large N 2D Yang-Mills Theory and Topological String Theory

Abstract

We describe a topological string theory which reproduces many aspects of the 1/N expansion of SU(N) Yang-Mills theory in two spacetime dimensions in the zero coupling (A=0) limit. The string theory is a modified version of topological gravity coupled to a topological sigma model with spacetime as target. The derivation of the string theory relies on a new interpretation of Gross and Taylor's ``Ω^{-1} points.'' We describe how inclusion of the area, coupling of chiral sectors, and Wilson loop expectation values can be incorporated in the topological string approach.

95 pages, 15 Postscript figures, uses harvmac (Please use the "large" print option.) Extensive revisions of the sections on topological field theory. Added a compact synopsis of topological field theory. Minor typos corrected. References added

References in corpus (8)

• Two Dimensional QCD as a String Theory
• Finite in All Directions
• The Mathai-Quillen Formalism and Topological Field Theory
• Two Dimensional String Theory and the Topological Torus
• Topological Strings and QCD in Two Dimensions
• Two-dimensional QCD and strings
• Some New/Old Approaches to QCD
• QCD and Strings in 2D

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