Large N 2D Yang-Mills Theory and Topological String Theory

Abstract

We describe a topological string theory which reproduces many aspects of the 1/N expansion of SU(N) Yang-Mills theory in two spacetime dimensions in the zero coupling (A=0) limit. The string theory is a modified version of topological gravity coupled to a topological sigma model with spacetime as target. The derivation of the string theory relies on a new interpretation of Gross and Taylor's ``Ω^{-1} points.'' We describe how inclusion of the area, coupling of chiral sectors, and Wilson loop expectation values can be incorporated in the topological string approach.