On the integrability of large N plane-wave matrix theory

Abstract

We show the three-loop integrability of large N plane-wave matrix theory in a subsector of states comprised of two complex light scalar fields. This is done by diagonalizing the theory's Hamiltonian in perturbation theory and taking the large N limit. At one-loop level the result is known to be equal to the Heisenberg spin-1/2 chain, which is a well-known integrable system. Here, integrability implies the existence of hidden conserved charges and results in a degeneracy of parity pairs in the spectrum. In order to confirm integrability at higher loops, we show that this degeneracy is not lifted and that (corrected) conserved charges exist. Plane-wave matrix theory is intricately connected to N=4 super-Yang–Mills, as it arises as a consistent reduction of the gauge theory on a three-sphere. We find that after appropriately renormalizing the mass parameter of the plane-wave matrix theory the effective Hamiltonian is identical to the dilatation operator of N=4 super-Yang–Mills theory in the considered subsector. Our results therefore represent a strong support for the conjectured three-loop integrability of planar N=4 SYM and are in disagreement with a recent dual string theory finding. Finally, we study the stability of the large N integrability against nonsupersymmetric deformations of the model.