In the present paper the Yang-Mills theory in the first order formalism is studied. On classical level the first order formulation is equivalent to the standard second order description of the Yang-Mills theory. It is proven that both formulations remain equivalent on quantum level as well.
The background gauge renormalization of the first order formulation of the Yang-Mills theory is studied by using the BRST identities. Together with the background symmetry, these identities allow for an iterative proof of renormalizability to all orders in perturbation theory. However, due to the fact that certain improper diagrams which violate the BRST symmetry should be removed, the renormalizability must be deduced indirectly. The recursive method involves rescalings and mixings of the fields, which lead to a renormalized effective action for the background field theory.
Studying the gauge-invariant renormalizability of four-dimensional Yang-Mills theory using the background field method and the BV-formalism, we derive a classical master-equation homogeneous with respect to the antibracket by introducing antifield partners to the background fields and parameters. The constructed model can be renormalized by the standard method of introducing counterterms. This model does not have (exact) multiplicative renormalizability but it does have this property in the physical sector (quasimultiplicative renormalizability).
We study the spectrum of anomalous dimensions of operators dual to giant graviton branes. The operators considered belong to the su$(2|3)$ sector of ${cal N}=4$ super Yang-Mills theory, have a bare dimension $sim N$ and are a linear combination of restricted Schur polynomials with $psim O(1)$ long rows or columns. In the same way that the operator mixing problem in the planar limit can be mapped to an integrable spin chain, we find that our problem maps to particles hopping on a lattice. The detailed form of the model is in precise agreement with the expected world volume dynamics of $p$ giant graviton branes, which is a U$(p)$ Yang-Mills theory. The lattice model we find has a number of noteworthy features. It is a lattice model with all-to-all sites interactions and quenched disorder.
We discuss bosonic and supersymmetric Yang-Mills matrix models with compact semi-simple gauge group. We begin by finding convergence conditions for the partition and correlation functions. Moving on, we specialise to the SU(N) models with large N. In both the Yang-Mills and cohomological formulations, we find all quantities which are invariant under the supercharges. Finally, we apply the deformation method of Moore, Nekrasov and Shatashvili directly to the Yang-Mills model. We find a deformation of the action which generates mass terms for all the matrix fields whilst preserving some supersymmetry. This allows us to rigorously integrate over a BRST quartet and arrive at the well known formula of MNS.
We study the empirical realisation of the memory effect in Yang-Mills theory, especially in view of the classical vs. quantum nature of the theory. Gauge invariant analysis of memory in classical U(1) electrodynamics and its observation by total change of transverse momentum of a charge is reviewed. Gauge fixing leads to a determination of a gauge transformation at infinity. An example of Yang-Mills memory then is obtained by reinterpreting known results on interactions of a quark and a large high energy nucleus in the theory of Color Glass Condensate. The memory signal is again a kick in transverse momentum, but it is only obtained in quantum theory after fixing the gauge, after summing over an ensemble of classical processes.