A Low Temperature Expansion for Matrix Quantum Mechanics

Abstract

We analyze solutions to loop-truncated Schwinger-Dyson equations in massless N=2 and N=4 Wess-Zumino matrix quantum mechanics at finite temperature, where conventional perturbation theory breaks down due to IR divergences. We find a rather intricate low temperature expansion that involves fractional power scaling in the temperature, based on a consistent "soft collinear" approximation. We conjecture that at least in the N=4 matrix quantum mechanics, such scaling behavior holds to all perturbative orders in the 1/N expansion. We discuss some preliminary results in analyzing the gauged supersymmetric quantum mechanics using Schwinger-Dyson equations, and comment on the connection to metastable microstates of black holes in the holographic dual of BFSS matrix quantum mechanics.