4D-2D equivalence for large- N Yang-Mills theory

General string-theoretic considerations suggest that four-dimensional large-N gauge theories should have dual descriptions in terms of two-dimensional conformal field theories. However, for nonsupersymmetric confining theories such as pure Yang-Mills theory, a long-standing challenge has been to explicitly show that any such dual descriptions actually exist. In this paper, we consider the large-N limit of four-dimensional pure Yang-Mills theory compactified on a three-sphere in the solvable limit where the sphere radius is small compared to the strong length scale, and demonstrate that the confined-phase spectrum of this gauge theory coincides with the spectrum of an irrational two-dimensional conformal field theory.