Mass gaps of a Z3 gauge theory with three fermion flavors in 1+1 dimensions

We consider a <a:math xmlns:a="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><a:msub><a:mi mathvariant="double-struck">Z</a:mi><a:mn>3</a:mn></a:msub></a:math> gauge theory coupled to three degenerate massive flavors of fermions, which we term Quantum Z(3) Dynamics, QZD. The spectrum can be computed in <d:math xmlns:d="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><d:mn>1</d:mn><d:mo>+</d:mo><d:mn>1</d:mn></d:math> dimensions using tensor networks. In weak coupling the spectrum is that of the expected mesons and baryons, although the corrections in weak coupling are nontrivial, analogous to those of nonrelativistic QED in <f:math xmlns:f="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><f:mrow><f:mn>1</f:mn><f:mo>+</f:mo><f:mn>1</f:mn></f:mrow></f:math> dimensions. In strong coupling, besides the usual baryon, the singlet meson is a baryon-antibaryon state. For two special values of the coupling constant, the lightest baryon is degenerate with the lightest octet meson, and the lightest singlet meson, respectively. Published by the American Physical Society 2024