Domain walls and the decay rate of the excited vacua in large N Yang-Mills theory

Journal Article · Fri Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1999 · Physical Review, D

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.59.021501· OSTI ID:295572

Shifman, M ^[1]

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1. Theoretical Physics Institute, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455 (United States)

In the (nonsupersymmetric) Yang-Mills theory in the large N limit, there exists an infinite set of nondegenerate {open_quotes}vacua.{close_quotes} The distinct vacua are separated by domain walls whose tension determines the decay rate of the false vacua. I discuss the phenomenon from a field-theoretic point of view, starting from supersymmetric gluodynamics and then breaking supersymmetry by introducing a gluino mass. By combining previously known results, the decay rate of the excited vacua is estimated, {Gamma}{approximately}exp({minus}const{times}N{sup 4}). The fourth power of N in the exponent is a consequence of the fact that the wall tension is proportional to N. {copyright} {ital 1998} {ital The American Physical Society}

• OSTI ID: 295572
• Journal Information: Physical Review, D, Journal Name: Physical Review, D Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 59; ISSN PRVDAQ; ISSN 0556-2821
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

66 PHYSICS
CHIRAL SYMMETRY
GLUONS
QUANTUM CHROMODYNAMICS
SUPERSYMMETRY
SYMMETRY BREAKING
YANG-MILLS THEORY