The spectral density for two-dimensional continuum QCD

We show that in continuum QCD2 one obtains a non-linear differential equation for the spectral density rho(α) of the eigenvalues of the Wilson operator. The general solution leads to a transcendental equation for rho, and we analyze the properties of this equation. It turns out that the properties of rho strikingly resemble those of the corresponding lattice spectral density, although there is no phase transition in the continuum case. Therefore, one cannot deduce the existence of phase transitions only from the behavior of the spectral density. (orig.)