Solvable Relativistic Hydrogenlike System in Supersymmetric Yang-Mills Theory

Abstract

The classical Kepler problem, as well as its quantum mechanical version, the Hydrogen atom, enjoy a well-known hidden symmetry, the conservation of the Laplace-Runge-Lenz vector, which makes these problems superintegrable. Is there a relativistic quantum field theory extension that preserves this symmetry? In this Letter we show that the answer is positive: in the non-relativistic limit, we identify the dual conformal symmetry of planar $\mathcal{N}=4$ super Yang-Mills with the well-known symmetries of the Hydrogen atom. We point out that the dual conformal symmetry offers a novel way to compute the spectrum of bound states of massive $W$ bosons in the theory. We perform nontrivial tests of this setup at weak and strong coupling, and comment on the possible extension to arbitrary values of the coupling.