The squashed fuzzy sphere, fuzzy strings and the Landau problem

Abstract

We discuss the squashed fuzzy sphere, which is a projection of the fuzzy sphere onto the equatorial plane, and use it to illustrate the stringy aspects of noncommutative field theory. We elaborate explicitly how strings linking its two coincident sheets arise in terms of fuzzy spherical harmonics. In the large N limit, the matrix-model Laplacian is shown to correctly reproduce the semi-classical dynamics of these charged strings, as given by the Landau problem.