On Baryon Number Non-Conservation in Two-Dimensional O(2N+1) QCD

Abstract

We construct a classical dynamical system whose phase space is a certain infinite-dimensional Grassmannian manifold, and propose that it is equivalent to the large N limit of two-dimensional QCD with an O(2N+1) gauge group. In this theory, we find that baryon number is a topological quantity that is conserved only modulo 2. We also relate this theory to the master field approach to matrix models.