
Loop Dynamics and a Geometric Solution of Planar QCD - Lecture I
Alexander Migdal, speaking at the Institute for Advanced Study's Matrix Pizza Night series, opens a two-hour lecture on planar QCD by developing the loop dynamics he argues yield a geometric solution to the theory in the limit of large color number. Recorded in Rubenstein Commons, the talk works through the mathematics of Wilson loops and their equations of motion, building toward a picture of planar gauge theory as a problem in geometry rather than conventional perturbation theory. Migdal, known for decades of work on loop equations and large-N QCD, walks through derivations on the board, addressing how loop functionals evolve and what geometric structures emerge from their dynamics. Pitched at a research-seminar level, it assumes familiarity with quantum field theory and gauge theory, and functions as the first installment of a planned sequence on the subject.