On N=2 SUSY gauge theories and integrable systems

An introduction to Seiberg-Witten theory and its relation to theories which include gravity.

We introduce a variety of four-dimensional N = 2 matter multiplets which have not previously appeared explicitly in the literature. Using these, we develop a class of supersymmetric actions supplying a context for a systematic exploration of N = 2 matter theories, some of which include Hypermultiplet sectors in novel ways. We construct an N = 2 supersymmetric field theory in which the propagating fields are realized off-shell exclusively as Lorentz scalars and Weyl spinors an...

These are notes from introductory lectures given at the Ecole Normale in Paris and at the Strasbourg meeting dedicated to the memory of Claude Itzykson. I review in considerable detail and in a hopefully pedagogical way the work of Seiberg and Witten on $N=2$ supersymmetric $SU(2)$ gauge theory without extra matter. This presentation basically follows their original work, except in the last section where the low-energy effective action is obtained emphasizing more the relatio...

The form of the spectral curve for $4d$ $N=2$ supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory with matter fields in the fundamental representation of the gauge group suggests that its $1d$ integrable counterpart should be looked for among (inhomogeneous) $sl(2)$ spin chains with the length of the chain being equal to the number of colours $N_c$. For $N_f < 2N_c$ the relevant spin chain is the simplest $XXX$-model, and this identification is in agreement with the known results in Seiberg-Wit...

The exact solutions (Seiberg-Witten type) of $N=2$ supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory are discussed from the view of Whitham-Toda hierarchy.

We discuss supersymmetric Yang-Mills theories with the multiple scales in the brane language. The issue concerns N=2 SUSY gauge theories with massive fundamental matter including the UV finite case of $n_{f}=2n_c$, theories involving products of SU(n) gauge groups with bifundamental matter, and the systems with several parameters similar to $\Lambda_{QCD}$. We argue that the proper integrable systems are, accordingly, twisted XXX SL(2) spin chain, $SL(p)$ magnets and degenera...

Talk presented at the 9th Max Born Symposion, Karpacz, September 1996

We show how a Heisenberg spin chain emerges from the two-dimensional ${\mathcal N}$=(2,2) gauge theory at an intermediate scale, which relies on the renormalization group flow guided by the global symmetries and the dynamics of domain walls. The discussion of higher-dimensional gauge theories with four supercharges is similar by compactifying them into two dimensions. Instead of utilizing the bosonic fields solely in the literature, adopting the fermionic degrees of freedom o...

An announcement of some results of a longer paper where the supersymmetric vacua of two dimensional N=2 susy gauge theories with matter are shown to be in one-to-one correspondence with the eigenstates of integrable spin chain Hamiltonians. The Heisenberg spin chain is mapped to the two dimensional U(N) theory with fundamental hypermultiplets, the XXZ spin chain is mapped to the analogous three dimensional super-Yang-Mills theory compactified on a circle, the XYZ spin chain a...

We study two-dimensional N=2 supersymmetric actions describing general models of scalar and vector multiplets coupled to supergravity.