1202.1827 (Alexios P. Polychronakos)

Two-dimensional Born-Infeld gauge theory: spectrum, string picture and
large-N phase transition    [PDF]

Alexios P. Polychronakos

We analyze U(N) Born-Infeld gauge theory in two spacetime dimensions. We
derive the exact energy spectrum on the circle and show that it reduces to N
relativistic fermions on a dual space. This contrasts to the Yang-Mills case
that reduces to nonrelativistic fermions. The theory admits a string theory
interpretation, analogous to the one for ordinary Yang-Mills, but with higher
order string interactions. We also demonstrate that the partition function on
the sphere exhibits a large-N phase transition in the area and calculate the
critical area. The limit in which the dimensionless coupling of the theory goes
to zero corresponds to massless fermions, admits a perturbatively exact free
string interpretation and exhibits no phase transition.

View original: http://arxiv.org/abs/1202.1827