Quantum integrability and supersymmetric vacua

Abstract

Supersymmetric vacua of two dimensional N = 4 gauge theories with matter, softly broken by the twisted masses down to N- = 2, are shown to be in one-to-one correspondence with the eigenstates of integrable spin chain Hamiltonians. Examples include: the Heisenberg SU(2) XXX spin chain which is mapped to the two dimensional U(N) theory with fundamental hypermultiplets, the XXZ spin chain which is mapped to the analogous three dimensional super-Yang-Mills theory compactified on a circle, the XYZ spin chain and eight-vertex model which are related to the four dimensional theory compactified on T2. A consequence of our correspondence is the isomorphism of the quantum cohomology ring of various quiver varieties, such as T*Gr(N,L) and the ring of quantum integrals of motion of various spin chains. The correspondence extends to any spin group, representations, boundary conditions, and inhomogeneity, it includes Sinh-Gordon and non-linear Schrödinger models as well as the dynamical spin chains like Hubbard model. These more general spin chains correspond to quiver gauge theories with twisted masses, with classical gauge groups. We give the gauge-theoretic interpretation of Drinfeld polynomials and Baxter operators. In the classical weak coupling limit our results make contact with Nakajima constructions. Toric compactifications of four dimensional N = 2 theories lead to the instanton corrected Bethe equations.