Theta dependence of SU(N) gauge theories

We study the $\theta$ dependence of four-dimensional SU($N$) gauge theories, for $N\geq 3$ and in the large-N limit. We use numerical simulations of the Wilson lattice formulation of gauge theories to compute the first few terms of the expansion of the ground-state energy $F(\theta)$ around $\theta=0$, $F(\theta)-F(0) = A_2 \theta^2 (1 + b_2 \theta^2 + ...)$. Our results support Witten's conjecture: $F(\theta)-F(0) = {\cal A} \theta^2 + O(1/N)$ for sufficiently small values of $\theta$, $\theta