The Heavy Quark Potential in Two-Dimentional QCD with Adjoint Matter

Abstract

Using a loop formulation approach of QCD$_2$, we study the potential between two heavy quarks in the presence of adjoint scalar fields, and demonstrate how 't Hooft's planar rule is manifested in this formulation. Based on some physical assumptions, we argue that large adjoint loops ``confined'' inside an external fundamental one give a Casimir type contribution to the potential energy, while the small loops only renormalize the string tension. We also extend the results to the case of massive adjoint fields.