The Matrix Chern-Simons One-form as a Universal Chern-Simons Theory

Abstract

We consider different large ${\cal N}$ limits of the one-dimensional Chern-Simons action $i\int dt~ \Tr (\del_0 +A_0)$ where $A_0$ is an ${\cal N}\times{\cal N}$ antihermitian matrix. The Hilbert space on which $A_0$ acts as a linear transformation is taken as the quantization of a $2k$-dimensional phase space ${\cal M}$ with different gauge field backgrounds. For slowly varying fields, the large ${\cal N}$ limit of the one-dimensional CS action is equal to the $(2k+1)$-dimensional CS theory on ${\cal M}\times {\bf R}$. Different large ${\cal N}$ limits are parametrized by the gauge fields and the dimension $2k$. The result is related to the bulk action for quantum Hall droplets in higher dimensions. Since the isometries of ${\cal M}$ are gauged, this has implications for gravity on fuzzy spaces. This is also briefly discussed.