Instanton Induced Large $N$ Phase Transitions in Two and Four Dimensional QCD

Abstract

The $1/N$ expansion of the weak coupling phase of two-dimensional QCD on a sphere is constructed. It is demonstrated that the phase transition from the weak to the strong coupling phase is induced by instantons. A double scaling limit of the theory at the point of the phase transition is constructed, the value of string susceptibility is determined to be $\gamma_{str}=-1$. The possibility of instanton induced large $N$ phase transitions in four dimensional QCD is explored.