Investigating the sign problem for two-dimensional $\mathcal{N}=(2,2)$ and $\mathcal{N}=(8,8)$ lattice super Yang--Mills theories

Abstract

Recently there has been some controversy in the literature concerning the existence of a fermion sign problem in the $\mathcal{N}=(2,2)$ supersymmetric Yang--Mills (SYM) theories on the lattice. In this work, we address this issue by conducting Monte Carlo simulations not only for $\mathcal{N}=(2,2)$ but also for $\mathcal{N}=(8,8)$ SYM in two dimensions for the U(N) theories with N=2, using the new ideas derived from topological twisting followed by geometric discretization. Our results from simulations provide the evidence that these theories do {\it not} suffer from a sign problem as the continuum limit is approached. These results thus boost confidence that these new lattice formulations can be used successfully to explore the nonperturbative aspects of the four-dimensional $\mathcal{N}=4$ SYM theory.