Quantum Spin-1/2 Antiferromagnetic Chains and Strongly Coupled Multiflavor Schwinger Models

We review the correspondence between strongly coupled lattice multiflavor Schwinger models and SU(N) antiferromagnetic chains. We show that finding the low lying states of the gauge models is equivalent to solving an SU(N) Heisenberg antiferromagnetic chain. For the two-flavor lattice Schwinger model the massless excitations correspond to gapless states of the Heisenberg chain, while the massive states are created by fermion transport in the ground state of the spin chain. Our analysis shows explicitly how spinons may arise in lattice gauge theories.