BPS Wilson Loops on S**2 at Higher Loops

Apr, 2008
39 pages
Published in:
  • JHEP 05 (2008) 077
e-Print:
Report number:
  • HU-EP-08-13

Citations per year

2008201120142017202002468
Abstract: (arXiv)
We consider supersymmetric Wilson loops of the variety constructed by Drukker, Giombi, Ricci, and Trancanelli, whose spatial contours lie on a two-sphere. Working to second order in the 't Hooft coupling in planar N=4 Supersymmetric Yang-Mills Theory (SYM), we compute the vacuum expectation value of a wavy-latitude and of a loop composed of two longitudes. We evaluate the resulting integrals numerically and find that the results are consistent with the zero-instanton sector calculation of Wilson loops in 2-d Yang-Mills on S^2 performed by Bassetto and Griguolo. We also consider the connected correlator of two distinct latitudes to third order in the 't Hooft coupling in planar N=4 SYM. We compare the result in the limit where the latitudes become coincident to a perturbative calculation in 2-d Yang-Mills on S^2 using a light-cone Wu-Mandelstam-Leibbrandt prescription. We are not able to calculate the SYM result at the required order in the separation between the latitudes necessary for a match with 2-d Yang-Mills; the result, however, does not preclude such a match.
Note:
  • 39 pages, 15 figures. v2 references added, minor cosmetic changes. v3 minor error in eq. (40) corrected. v4 error in coincident limit of correlator corrected; claims of disagreement with 2-d Yang-Mills retracted
  • Wilson loop: supersymmetry
  • Wilson loop: BPS
  • supersymmetry: 4
  • space: sphere
  • dimension: 2
  • gauge field theory: Yang-Mills: supersymmetry
  • field theory: planar
  • correlation function
  • light cone
  • numerical calculations