Higher rank Wilson loops in N = 2∗ super-Yang-Mills theory

Abstract

The $$ \mathcal{N}={2}^{\ast } $$ Super-Yang-Mills theory (SYM*) undergoes an infinite sequence of large-N quantum phase transitions. We compute expectation values of Wilson loops in k-symmetric and antisymmetric representations of the SU(N ) gauge group in this theory and show that the same phenomenon that causes the phase transitions at finite coupling leads to a non-analytic dependence of Wilson loops on k/N when the coupling is strictly infinite, thus making the higher-representation Wilson loops ideal holographic probes of the non-trivial phase structure of SYM*.