High Energy QCD: Stringy Picture from Hidden Integrability

TL;DR

This paper explores the stringy aspects of high-energy QCD by leveraging its hidden integrability, revealing a deep connection with supersymmetric gauge theories and proposing a brane-based scattering picture involving M2 branes.

Contribution

It introduces a novel brane picture for high-energy QCD scattering using integrability and supersymmetry analogies, and develops new quantization conditions consistent with S-duality.

Findings

QCD in the Regge limit shares universality with certain SUSY gauge theories.

A brane model with M2 branes describes scattering processes.

New quantization conditions align with S-duality principles.

Abstract

We discuss the stringy properties of high-energy QCD using its hidden integrability in the Regge limit and on the light-cone. It is shown that multi-colour QCD in the Regge limit belongs to the same universality class as superconformal $\cal{N}$=2 SUSY YM with $N_f=2N_c$ at the strong coupling orbifold point. The analogy with integrable structure governing the low energy sector of $\cal{N}$=2 SUSY gauge theories is used to develop the brane picture for the Regge limit. In this picture the scattering process is described by a single M2 brane wrapped around the spectral curve of the integrable spin chain and unifying hadrons and reggeized gluons involved in the process. New quasiclassical quantization conditions for the complex higher integrals of motion are suggested which are consistent with the $S-$duality of the multi-reggeon spectrum. The derivation of the anomalous dimensions of the lowest twist operators is formulated in terms of the Riemann surfaces