DLCQ SPECTRUM OF N=(8,8) SUPER YANG-MILLS THEORY - ART. NO. 105024

We consider the (1 + 1)-dimensional N=(8,8) supersymmetric matrix fiel d theory obtained from a dimensional reduction of ten dimensional N=1 super Yang-Mills theory. The gauge groups we consider are U(N) and SU( N), where N is finite but arbitrary. We adopt light-cone coordinates, and choose to work in the light-cone gauge. Quantizing this theory via discretized light-cone quantization (DLCQ) introduces an integer, K, which restricts the light-cone momentum-fraction of constituent quanta to be integer multiples of 1/K. Solutions to the DLCQ bound state equ ations are obtained for K=2, 3 and 4 by discretizing the light-cone su per charges, which preserves supersymmetry manifestly. We discuss dege neracies in the massive spectrum that appear to be independent of the light-cone compactification, and are therefore expected to be present in the decompactified limit K-->infinity. Our numerical results also s upport the claim that the SU(N) theory has a mass gap. [S0556-2821(98) 01922-5].