Abstract

Non abelian gauge theories like the theory of strong interactions describe an incredibly rich variety of phenomena, driven by the interplay of confinement and asymptotic freedom.

Experiments give us a tangible evidence of this richness, with the finding of new phases of matter like the quark-gluon plasma phase.  LHC might let us discover, not without a certain degree of surprise, that new regimes of strongly interacting matter play among the main characters in what we call the physics beyond the Standard Model.

 

All of this gives a practical reason for a purely theoretical question: What happens when we increase the matter content of a non-abelian gauge theory? Is the theory entering a conformal phase before the loss of asymptotic freedom? During this talk I will give part of the answer, based on very recent works. Using a lot of the physics of phase transitions, I will explore the way we might draw the complete picture.