The Spectrum of a Large N Gauge Theory Near Transition from Confinement to Screening

Abstract

We study the spectrum of 1+1 dimensional large $N$ QCD coupled to an adjoint Majorana fermion of mass $m$. As $m\to 0$ this model makes a transition from confinement to screening. We argue that in this limit the spectrum becomes continuous for mass greater than twice the mass of the lightest bound state. This critical mass is nothing but the threshold for a decay into two lightest states. We present numerical results based on DLCQ that appear to support our claim.