Correlators between Wilson loop and chiral operators in N=2 conformal gauge theories

TL;DR

This paper investigates the relationship between Wilson loops and chiral operators in N=2 super Yang-Mills theories, providing evidence that matrix models encode one-point functions and confirming this at finite N and two-loop order.

Contribution

It demonstrates that matrix models can predict one-point functions of chiral operators in N=2 theories, supported by explicit two-loop calculations and large-N results.

Findings

Matrix model expectations match field theory results at two-loop order.

Evidence supports the conjecture that matrix models encode one-point functions.

Large-N results are exact in the 't Hooft coupling for transcendental parts.

Abstract

We consider conformal N=2 super Yang-Mills theories with gauge group SU(N) and Nf=2N fundamental hypermultiplets in presence of a circular 1/2-BPS Wilson loop. It is natural to conjecture that the matrix model which describes the expectation value of this system also encodes the one-point functions of chiral scalar operators in presence of the Wilson loop. We obtain evidence of this conjecture by successfully comparing, at finite N and at the two-loop order, the one-point functions computed in field theory with the vacuum expectation values of the corresponding normal-ordered operators in the matrix model. For the part of these expressions with transcendentality zeta(3), we also obtain results in the large-N limit that are exact in the 't Hooft coupling lambda.