THE COULOMB PHASE IN N=1 GAUGE-THEORIES WITH AN LG-TYPE SUPERPOTENTIAL

We consider N = 1 supersymmetric gauge theories with a simple classica l gauge group, one adjoint Phi, N-f pairs (Q(i), (Q) over tilde(i)) of (fundamental, anti-fundamental) and a tree-level superpotential with terms of the Landau-Ginzburg form (Q) over tilde(i) Phi(l)Q(j). The qu antum moduli space of these models includes a Coulomb branch, We find hyper-elliptic curves that encode the low energy effective gauge coupl ing for the groups SO(N-c) and USp(N-c) (the corresponding curve for S U(N-c) is already known). As a consistency check, we derive the sub-sp ace of some vacua with massless dyons via confining phase superpotenti als. We also discuss the existence and nature of the nontrivial superc onformal points appearing when singularities merge in the Coulomb bran ch. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.