Large \(N\) 2D Yang-Mills theory and topological string theory (Q1363117)

The paper deals with the description of the zero-coupling limit of the \(1/N\) expansion of \(SU(N)\) Yang-Mills theory in terms of a topological string theory. In particular the paper addresses the problem of the meaning of the so-called \(\Omega^{-1}\) points, and that of finding an action functional for the relevant string theory. The chiral case is first considered. A first result is the identification of the zero-coupling (i.e., zero-area) partition function as the generating function of the orbifold Euler characteristic of the compactified Hurwitz space of branched covers of the target space. An action for the topological string theory is constructed as the sum of the action of a 2D topological gravity coupled to a topological \(\sigma\)-model with an additional term which is explicitly constructed. Then the authors discuss how a nonzero value for the area can be restored by perturbing this action with the area operator. The remaining part of the paper is devoted to the extension of these results to the nonchiral case.