D-brane probes in the matrix model

Recently, a new approach to large N gauge theories, based on a generalization of the concept of D-brane probes to any gauge field theory, was proposed. In the present note, we compute the probe action in the one matrix model with a quartic potential. This allows to illustrate several non-trivial aspects of the construction in an exactly solvable set-up. One of our main goal is to test the bare bubble approximation. The approximate free energy found in this approximation, which can be derived from a back-of-an-envelope calculation, matches the exact result for all values of the 't Hooft coupling with a surprising accuracy. Another goal is to illustrate the remarkable properties of the equivariant partial gauge-fixing procedure, which is at the heart of the formalism. For this we use a general xi-gauge to compute the brane action. The action depends on xi in a very non-trivial way, yet we show explicitly that its critical value does not and coincides with twice the free energy, as required by general consistency. This is made possible by a phenomenon of ghost condensation and the spontaneous breaking of the equivariant BRST symmetry. (C) 2014 The Author. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/). Funded by SCOAP(3).