Large N 2D Yang-Mills Theory and Topological String Theory

We describe a topological string theory which reproduces many aspects of the 1/N expansion of SU(N) Yang-Mills theory in two spacetime dimensions in the zero coupling (A= 0) limit. The string theory is a modified version of topological gravity coupled to a topological sigma model with spacetime as target. The derivation of the string theory relies on a new interpretation of Gross and Taylor's “Ω^-1 points ”. We describe how inclusion of the area, coupling of chiral sectors, and Wilson loop expectation values can be incorporated in the topological string approach. Received: 3 March 1994 / Accepted: 2 February 1995