Exact discretness and mass gap of N=1 symplectic Yang-Mills from M-theory

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates the pure discreteness of the non-perturbative spectrum and the existence of a mass gap in N=1 symplectic Yang-Mills theory derived from M-theory, revealing phase transitions related to confinement and deconfinement.

Contribution

It establishes the exact discreteness and mass gap of N=1 symplectic Yang-Mills from M-theory, connecting membrane theory with gauge theory phases.

Findings

Spectrum is purely discrete with a mass gap.

Confinement occurs at zero temperature due to central charge.

Phase transition to quark-plasma phase at high energy.

Abstract

In this note we summarize some of the results found recently in hep-th/0609054. We show the pure discretness of the non-perturbative quantum spectrum of a symplectic Yang-Mills theory defined on a Riemann surface of positive genus, living in a target space that, in particular, can be 4D. This theory corresponds to the membrane with central charges. The presence of the central charge induces a confinement in the phase at zero temperature. When the energy rises, the center of the group breaks and the theory enters in a quark-plasma phase after a topological transition, corresponding to the N=4 wrapped supermembrane.