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A bstract The mass spectrum of 1 + 1-dimensional SU( N ) gauge theory coupled to a Majorana fermion in the adjoint representation has been studied in the large N limit using Light-Cone Quantization. Here we extend this approach to theories with small values of N , exhibiting explicit results for N = 2 , 3, and 4. In the context of Discretized Light-Cone Quantization, we develop a procedure based on the Cayley-Hamilton theorem for determining which states of the large N theory become null at finite N . For the low-lying bound states, we find that the squared masses divided by g 2 N , where g is the gauge coupling, have very weak dependence on N . The coefficients of the 1 /N 2 corrections to their large N values are surprisingly small. When the adjoint fermion is massless, we observe exact degeneracies that we explain in terms of a Kac-Moody algebra construction and charge conjugation symmetry. When the squared mass of the adjoint fermion is tuned to g 2 N/π , we find evidence that the spectrum exhibits boson-fermion degeneracies, in agreement with the supersymmetry of the model at any value of N . 

A bstract Two-dimensional SU( N ) gauge theory coupled to a Majorana fermion in the adjoint representation is a nice toy model for higher-dimensional gauge dynamics. It possesses a multitude of “gluinoball” bound states whose spectrum has been studied using numerical diagonalizations of the light-cone Hamiltonian. We extend this model by coupling it to N f flavors of fundamental Dirac fermions (quarks). The extended model also contains meson-like bound states, both bosonic and fermionic, which in the large- N limit decouple from the gluinoballs. We study the large- N meson spectrum using the Discretized Light-Cone Quantization (DLCQ). When all the fermions are massless, we exhibit an exact $$ \mathfrak{osp} $$ osp (1|4) symmetry algebra that leads to an infinite number of degeneracies in the DLCQ approach. More generally, we show that many single-trace states in the theory are threshold bound states that are degenerate with multi-trace states. These exact degeneracies can be explained using the Kac-Moody algebra of the SU( N ) current. We also present strong numerical evidence that additional threshold states appear in the continuum limit. Finally, we make the quarks massive while keeping the adjoint fermion massless. In this case too, we observe some exact degeneracies that show that the spectrum of mesons becomes continuous above a certain threshold. This demonstrates quantitatively that the fundamental string tension vanishes in the massless adjoint QCD 2 without explicit four-fermion operators. 

We investigated the neural representation of locomotion in the nematode C. elegans by recording population calcium activity during movement. We report that population activity more accurately decodes locomotion than any single neuron. Relevant signals are distributed across neurons with diverse tunings to locomotion. Two largely distinct subpopulations are informative for decoding velocity and curvature, and different neurons’ activities contribute features relevant for different aspects of a behavior or different instances of a behavioral motif. To validate our measurements, we labeled neurons AVAL and AVAR and found that their activity exhibited expected transients during backward locomotion. Finally, we compared population activity during movement and immobilization. Immobilization alters the correlation structure of neural activity and its dynamics. Some neurons positively correlated with AVA during movement become negatively correlated during immobilization and vice versa. This work provides needed experimental measurements that inform and constrain ongoing efforts to understand population dynamics underlying locomotion in C. elegans .