Phases of planar QCD on the torus

Abstract

At infinite N, continuum Euclidean SU(N) gauge theory defined on a symmetrical four torus has a rich phase structure with phases where the finite volume system behaves as if it had infinite extent in some or all of the directions. In addition, fermions are automatically quenched, so planar QCD should be cheaper to solve numerically that full QCD. Large N is a relatively unexplored and worthwhile direction of research in lattice field theory.

Comments: 22 pages, 13 figures, plenary talk at LATTICE 2005, Trinity College, Dublin, July 25-30, 2005