AdS_4/CFT_3 duality relating IIA string theory on AdS_4 x CP^3 to N=6 superconformal Chern-Simons theory provides an arena for studying aspects of integrability in a new potentially exactly solvable system. In this paper we explore the tree-level worldsheet scattering for strings on AdS_4 x CP^3. We compute all bosonic four-, five- and six-point amplitudes in the gauge-fixed action and demonstrate the absence of particle production.
We consider (warped) AdS string backgrounds which allow for a GKP spinning string/null cusp solution. Integrability implies that the worldsheet S-matrix should factorize, which in turn constrains the form of the warp factor as a function of the coordinates of the internal space. This constraint is argued to rule out integrability for all supersymmetric AdS7 and AdS6 backgrounds as well as AdS5 Gaiotto-Maldacena backgrounds and a few highly supersymmetric AdS4 and AdS3 backgrounds.
We argue that the recently discovered integrability in the large-N CFT/AdS system is equivalent to diffractionless scattering of the corresponding hidden elementary excitations. This suggests that, perhaps, the key tool for finding the spectrum of this system is neither the gauge theory's dilatation operator nor the string sigma model's quantum Hamiltonian, but instead the respective factorized S-matrix. To illustrate the idea, we focus on the closed fermionic su(1|1) sector of the N=4 gauge theory. We introduce a new technique, the perturbative asymptotic Bethe ansatz, and use it to extract t…
We show the factorization of the three-particle world-sheet S-matrix of AdS_5 x S^5 superstring theory in the near-flat-space limit at one loop order. This is done by computing various scattering amplitudes from Feynman diagrams in the world-sheet theory. The knowledge of certain highest weight amplitudes allows us to fix all the freedom in the three-particle S-matrix, which we argue to be constrained up to four scalar functions due to the symmetries of the model. We demonstrate that these amplitudes are given by corresponding products of the known two-particle S-matrix elements, from which it…
We show how to construct an algebraic curve for factorized string solution in the context of the AdS/CFT correspondence. We define factorized solutions to be solutions where the flat-connection becomes independent of one of the worldsheet variables by a similarity transformation with a matrix $S$ satisfying $S^{-1}d S=const$. Using the factorization property we construct a well defined Lax operator and an associated algebraic curve. The construction procedure is local and does not require the introduction of a monodromy matrix. The procedure can be applied for string solutions with any boundar…
All symmetric space $AdS_n$ solutions of type II supergravity have recently been found for $n>2$. For the supersymmetric solutions (and their T-duals) it is known that the Green-Schwarz string is classically integrable. We complete the classification by ruling out integrability for the remaining non-supersymmetric solutions. This is achieved by showing that tree-level scattering on the worldsheet of a GKP or BMN string fails to factorize for these cases.
The loop expansion of the effective action is used to evaluate quantum corrections to a scalar field theory (massive phi^4 model) on AdS. We evaluate one loop corrections and show that they preserve conformal invariance of the boundary theory as conjectured by AdS/CFT correspondence.
We revisit the calculation of holographic correlators in $AdS_3$. We develop new methods to evaluate exchange Witten diagrams, resolving some technical difficulties that prevent a straightforward application of the methods used in higher dimensions. We perform detailed calculations in the $AdS_3 \times S^3 \times K3$ background. We find strong evidence that four-point tree-level correlators of KK modes of the tensor multiplets enjoy a hidden 6d conformal symmetry. The correlators can all be packaged into a single generating function, related to the 6d flat space superamplitude. This generalize…
Extending earlier results by Paulos, we discuss further the use of the embedding formalism and Mellin transform in the calculation of tree-level correlators of scalar and vector fields in AdS/CFT. We present an iterative procedure that builds amplitudes by sewing together lower-point off-shell diagrams. Both scalar and vector correlators are shown to be given in terms of Mellin amplitudes. We apply the procedure to the explicit calculation of three-, four- and five-point correlators.
Recently, exact agreement has been found between bulk and boundary three-point functions in AdS_3 x S^3 x T^4 with NSNS fluxes. This represents a non-trivial check of AdS/CFT correspondence beyond the supergravity approximation as it corresponds to an exact worldsheet computation. When taking a closer look at this computation, one notices that a crucial point for the bulk-boundary agreement to hold is an intriguing mutual cancellation between worldsheet contributions corresponding to the AdS_3 and to the S^3 pieces of the geometry, what results in a simple factorized form for the final three-p…
Conventionally, factorized scattering in two dimensions is argued to be a consequence of the conservation of local higher charges. However, integrability may well be realized via nonlocal charges, while higher local charges are not known. Here we address the question of whether a nonlocal Yangian symmetry implies factorized scattering of the S-matrix. We explicitly study the constraints on three-particle scattering processes of particles transforming in the fundamental representations of su(N), u(1|1), and the centrally extended su(2|2) underlying the dynamic scattering and hexagon form factor…
We present a constructive derivation of all four-point tree-level holographic correlators for eleven dimensional supergravity on $AdS_7 \times S^4$. These correlators correspond to four-point functions of arbitrary one-half BPS operators in the six-dimensional $(2,0)$ theory at large central charge. The crucial observation is that the polar part of the correlators in Mellin space is fully captured by a drastically simpler Maximally R-symmetry Violating (MRV) amplitude, while the contact part is fully fixed by superconformal Ward identities and the flat space limit.
We study correlators of four protected (half-BPS) operators in strongly coupled supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory. These are dual to tree-level supergravity amplitudes on AdS${}_5\times$S${}_5$ for various spherical harmonics on the five-sphere. We use conformal field theory methods, in particular a recently obtained Lorentzian inversion formula, to analytically bootstrap these correlators. The extracted $1/N^2$ double-trace anomalous dimensions confirm a simple pattern recently conjectured by Aprile, Drummond, Heslop and Paul. We explain this pattern by an unexpected ten-dimensional conformal …
We carry out an exact worldsheet computation of tree level three-point correlators of chiral operators in string theory on AdS(3) x S^3 x T^4 with NS-NS flux. We present a simple representation for the string chiral operators in the coordinate basis of the dual boundary CFT. Striking cancelations occur between the three-point functions of the H3+ and the SU(2) WZW models which result in a simple factorized form for the final correlators. We show, by fixing a single free parameter in the H3+ WZW model, that the fusion rules and the structure constants of the N=2 chiral ring in the bulk are in p…
We provide strong evidence that all tree-level 4-point holographic correlators in AdS$_3 \times S^3$ are constrained by a hidden 6D conformal symmetry. This property has been discovered in the AdS$_5 \times S^5$ context and noticed in the tensor multiplet subsector of the AdS$_3 \times S^3$ theory. Here we extend it to general AdS$_3 \times S^3$ correlators which contain also the chiral primary operators of spin zero and one that sit in the gravity multiplet. The key observation is that the 6D conformal primary field associated with these operators is not a scalar but a self-dual $3$-form prim…
We study the worldsheet scattering theory of the $η$ deformation of the AdS$_\mathsf{5} \times $S$^\mathsf{5}$ superstring corresponding to the purely fermionic Dynkin diagram. This theory is a Weyl-invariant integrable deformation of the AdS$_\mathsf{5} \times $S$^\mathsf{5}$ superstring, with trigonometric quantum-deformed symmetry. We compute the two-body worldsheet S matrix of this string in the light-cone gauge at tree level to quadratic order in fermions. The result factorizes into two elementary blocks, and solves the classical Yang-Baxter equation. We also determine the corresponding e…
Tree amplitudes of any gauge theory and gravity can be factorized into primitive three-particle amplitudes by the BCFW recursion relations. We show that the amplitudes at any perturbation order are given by tree amplitudes with additional pairs of particles in the forward limit. As an example we compute the four-gluon all-plus helicity amplitude at next-to-leading order.
We confront the recently proposed exact S-matrices for AdS(3)/CFT(2) with direct worldsheet calculations. Utilizing the BMN and Near Flat Space (NFS) expansions for strings on AdS(3) x S(3) x S(3) x S(1) and AdS(3) x S(3) x T(4) we compute both tree-level and one-loop scattering amplitudes. Up to some minor issues we find nice agreement in the tree-level sector. At the one-loop level however we find that certain non-zero tree-level processes, which are not visible in the exact solution, contribute, via the optical theorem, and give an apparent mismatch for certain amplitudes. Furthermore we fi…
Free ${\cal N}=4$ Super Yang-Mills theory (in the large $N$ limit) is dual to an, as yet, intractable closed string theory on $AdS_5\times S^5$. We aim to implement open-closed string duality in this system and thereby recast the free field correlation functions as amplitudes in $AdS$. The basic strategy is to implement this duality directly on planar field theory correlation functions in the worldline (or first quantised) formulation. The worldline loops (remnants of the worldsheet holes) close to form tree diagrams. These tree diagrams are then to be manifested as tree amplitudes in $AdS$ by…
Dipartimento di Fisica, Università degli Studi di Milano–Bicocca（米兰比可卡大学物理系）；INFN, Sezione di Milano–Bicocca（意大利国家核物理研究所米兰比可卡分部）；School of Mathematics, University of Birmingham（伯明翰大学数学学院）；INFN, Sezione di Padova（意大利国家核物理研究所帕多瓦分部）
研究超对称 $\lambda$-形变 AdS3 × S3 × T4 超弦的微扰玻色子树级光锥规范世界片 S 矩阵，发现非弹性散射过程抵消保持可积性，但 $\lambda \to 1$ 时 S 矩阵病态，表明该极限未捕捉到 T-对偶理论的完整世界片动力学。
The tree-level operator product expansion coefficients of the matter currents are calculated in the pure spinor formalism for type IIB superstring in the AdS(5)*S(5) background.
Any gravitational scattering amplitude takes a remarkably simple factorized form at tree level in multi-Regge kinematics (MRK), where the produced particles are strongly ordered in rapidity. Very recently, it was shown that also the scattering equations have a very simple structure in MRK. In this paper we study Einstein gravity amplitudes in MRK in the framework of the scattering equations. We present a new derivation of the multi-Regge factorization of tree-level amplitudes with any number of external gravitons and any helicity configuration.
The $p$-adic AdS/CFT is a holographic duality based on the $p$-adic number field $\mathbb{Q}_p$. For a $p$-adic CFT living on $\mathbb{Q}_p$ and with complex-valued fields, the bulk theory is defined on the Bruhat-Tits tree, which can be viewed as the bulk dual of $\mathbb{Q}_p$. We propose that bulk theory can be formulated as a lattice gauge theory of PGL$(2,\mathbb{Q}_p)$ on the Bruhat-Tits tree, and show that the Wilson line networks in this lattice gauge theory can reproduce all the correlation functions of the boundary $p$-adic CFT.
It was recently shown in arXiv:2009.11306 that tree-level correlation functions in tensionless string theory on $\rm{AdS}_3\times\rm{S}^3\times\mathbb{T}^4$ match the expected form of correlation functions in the symmetric orbifold CFT on $\mathbb{T}^4$ in the large $N$ limit. This analysis utilized the free-field realization of the $\mathfrak{psu}(1,1|2)_1$ Wess-Zumino-Witten model, along with a surprising identity directly relating these correlation functions to a branched covering of the boundary of $\rm{AdS}_3$. In particular, this identity implied the unusual feature that the string theor…
A particularly rich class of integrable systems arises from the AdS/CFT duality. There, the two-dimensional quantum field theory living on the string worldsheet may be understood in terms of a non-relativistic factorized S matrix, and the energy spectrum may be derived by techniques such as the mirror thermodynamic Bethe ansatz or the quantum spectral curve. In the case of AdS$_3$/CFT$_2$ without Ramond-Ramond fluxes, the worldhseet theory is a Wess-Zumino-Witten model with continous and discrete representations which, for the lowest allowed level, is dual to the symmetric product orbifold of …
We present the tree-level five-point amplitude of the lowest KK mode of SYM on AdS$_5$$\times$S$^3$, dual to the correlator of the flavor current multiplet in the dual 4d ${\cal N}=2$ SCFT. Its color and kinematical structure is particularly simple and resembles that of the flat-space gluon amplitude.
We consider a semiclassical (large string tension ~ λ^1/2) limit of 4-point correlator of two "heavy" vertex operators with large quantum numbers and two "light" operators. It can be written in a factorized form as a product of two 3-point functions, each given by the integrated "light" vertex operator on the classical string solution determined by the "heavy" operators. We check consistency of this factorization in the case of a correlator with two dilatons as "light" operators. We study in detail the example when all 4 operators are chiral primary scalars, two of which carry large charge J o…
With a motivation to find a 2-d Lorentz-invariant solution of the AdS_5 x S^5 superstring we continue the study of the Pohlmeyer-reduced form of this theory. The reduced theory is constructed from currents of the superstring sigma model and is classically equivalent to it. Its action is that of G/H=Sp(2,2)xSp(4)/SU(2)^4 gauged WZW model deformed by an integrable potential and coupled to fermions. This theory is UV finite and is conjectured to be related to the superstring theory also at the quantum level. Expanded near the trivial vacuum it has the same elementary excitations (8+8 massive boso…
We consider the three-parameter integrable deformation of the $AdS_3\times S^3$ superstring background constructed in arXiv:1811.00453. Working on the string worldsheet in uniform lightcone gauge, we find the tree-level bosonic S matrix of the model and study some of its limits.
We consider superstring theory on AdS_3 x S^3 x T^4 supported by a combination of RR and NSNS 3-form fluxes (with parameter of the NSNS 3-form q). This theory interpolates between the pure RR flux model (q=0) whose spectrum is expected to be described by a Bethe ansatz and the pure NSNS flux model (q=1) which is described by the supersymmetric extension of the SL(2,R) x SU(2) WZW model. As a first step towards the solution of this integrable theory for generic value of q we compute the corresponding tree-level S-matrix for massive BMN-type excitations. We find that this S-matrix has a surprisi…
We present a systematic study of holographic correlators in a vast array of SCFTs with non-maximal superconformal symmetry. These theories include 4d $\mathcal{N}=2$ SCFTs from D3-branes near F-theory singularities, 5d Seiberg exceptional theories and 6d E-string theory, as well as 3d and 4d phenomenological models with probe flavor branes. We consider current multiplets and their generalizations with higher weights, dual to massless and massive super gluons in the bulk. At leading order in the inverse central charge expansion, connected four-point functions of these operators correspond to tr…
The AdS boundary correlators and their dual correlation functions of boundary operators have been the main dynamic observables of the holographic duality relating a bulk AdS theory and a boundary conformal field theory. We show that tree-level AdS boundary correlators for generic states can be expressed as nonlocal differential operators of a certain structure acting on contact Witten diagrams. We further write the boundary correlators in a form that is very similar to flat space amplitudes, with Mandelstam variables replaced by certain combinations of single-state conformal generators, prove …
We study string corrections to one-loop amplitudes of single-particle operators ${\cal O}_p$ in $AdS_5 \times S^5$. The tree-level correlators in supergravity enjoy an accidental 10d conformal symmetry. Consequently, one observes a partial degeneracy in the spectrum of anomalous dimensions of double-trace operators and at the same time equality of many different correlators for different external charges $p_{i=1,2,3,4}$. The one-loop contribution is expected to lift such bonus properties, and its precise form can be predicted from tree-level data and consistency with the operator product expan…
We initiate the study of bound state scattering in AdS space at the level of Witten diagrams. For concreteness, we focus on the case with only scalar fields and analyze several basic diagrams which more general diagrams reduce to. We obtain closed form expressions for their Mellin amplitudes with arbitrary conformal dimensions, which exhibit interesting behavior. In particular, we observe that certain tree-level bound state Witten diagrams have the same structure as loop diagrams in AdS.
We address the problem of computing scattering amplitudes related to the correlation function of two Wilson lines and/or loops elongated along light-cone directions in strongly coupled gauge theories. Using the AdS/CFT correspondence in the classical approximation, the amplitudes are shown to be related to minimal surfaces generalizing the {\em helicoid} in various $AdS_5$ backgrounds. Infra-red divergences appearing for Wilson lines can be factorized out or can be cured by considering the IR finite case of correlation functions of two Wilson loops. In non-conformal cases related to confining …
We present a method for calculating solutions and corresponding central charges for backgrounds with AdS_3 and S^k factors in alpha'-exact fashion from the full tree-level low energy effective action of heterotic string theory. Three examples are explicitly presented: AdS_3 X S^3 X T^4, AdS_3 X S^2 X S^1 X T^4 and AdS_3 X S^3 X S^3 X S^1. Crucial property which enabled our analysis is vanishing of the Riemann tensor calculated from connection with "sigma-model torsion". We show the following: (i) Chern-Simons terms are the only source of alpha'-corrections not only in BPS, but also in non-BPS …
Using the pure spinor formalism, a particular superstring scattering amplitude involving one closed string and $N$ open string vertex operators in $\mathrm{AdS}{}_5 \times \mathrm{S}^5$ is studied. It is shown that the tree-level amplitude containing one supergravity state and $N$ super-Yang-Mills states located on D3-branes near the AdS${}_5$ boundary can be expressed as a $d=4$ ${\cal N}=4$ harmonic superspace integral in terms of the supergravity and super-Yang-Mills superfields.
The computation of CFT correlation functions via Witten diagrams in AdS space can be simplified via the Mellin transform. Recently a set of Feynman rules for tree-level Mellin space amplitudes has been proposed for scalar theories. In this note we derive these rules by explicitly evaluating all of the relevant Witten diagram integrals for the scalar phi^n theory. We also check that the rules reduce to the usual Feynman rules in the flat space limit.
We study Vasiliev's system of higher spin gauge fields coupled to massive scalars in AdS_3, and compute the tree level two and three point functions. These are compared to the large N limit of the W_N minimal model, and nontrivial agreements are found. We propose a modified version of the conjecture of Gaberdiel and Gopakumar, under which the bulk theory is perturbatively dual to a subsector of the CFT that closes on the sphere.
We introduce a bosonic ambitwistor string theory in AdS space. Even though the theory is anomalous at the quantum level, one can nevertheless use it in the classical limit to derive a novel formula for correlation functions of boundary CFT operators in arbitrary space-time dimensions. The resulting construction can be treated as a natural extension of the CHY formalism for the flat-space S-matrix, as it similarly expresses tree-level amplitudes in AdS as integrals over the moduli space of Riemann spheres with punctures. These integrals localize on an operator-valued version of scattering equat…
We discuss a Coulomb gas realization of $n$-point correlation functions in the $SL(2,\mathbb{R})$ Wess-Zumino-Witten (WZW) model that is suitable to compute scattering amplitudes of winding strings in 3-dimensional Anti-de Sitter space at tree-level and one-loop. This is a refined version of previously proposed free-field realizations that, among other features, accomplishes to make the $H_3^+$ WZW-Liouville correspondence manifest.
The Schwinger-Dyson equations for Green functions and 3-vertexes in planar approximation used 50 years ago in the earlier theory of conformal bootstrap are written in frames of the AdS/CFT correspondence. The technique of "Wightman-Witten" diagrams is used in calculations of the bubble bulk diagrams that permitted to obtain the values of conformal dimensions of primary operators in two models of the interacting bulk scalar fields which conformal dimensions obey "extremal" relation. Simple expressions for the four-point tree "Wightman-Witten" correlators of these primary operators are obtained …
The correspondence between the 't Hooft limit of N=4 super Yang-Mills theory and tree-level IIB superstring theory on AdS(5)xS(5) in a Ramond-Ramond background at values of lambda=g^2 N ranging from infinity to zero is examined in the context of unitarity. A squaring relation for the imaginary part of the holographic scattering of identical string fields in the two-particle channels is found, and a mismatch between weak and strong 't Hooft coupling is pointed out within the correspondence. Several interpretations and implications are proposed.
We explore the structure of maximally supersymmetric Yang-Mills correlators in the supergravity regime. We develop an algorithm to construct one-loop supergravity amplitudes of four arbitrary Kaluza-Klein supergravity states, properly dualised into single-particle operators. We illustrate this algorithm by constructing new explicit results for multi-channel correlation functions, and we show that correlators which are degenerate at tree level become distinguishable at one-loop. The algorithm contains a number of subtle features which have not appeared until now. In particular, we address the p…
We construct an ambitwistor string that describes Type II supergravity on AdS$_3\times$S$^3$ with pure NS flux. The background Einstein equations ensure that the model is anomaly free. The spectrum consists of supergravity fluctuations around this background, with no higher string states. This theory transforms the problem of computing $n$-point tree-level amplitudes on AdS$_3$ into that of understanding an $\mathfrak{sl}_2$ Gaudin integrable system, whose representations are determined by the dual boundary operators and whose spectral parameters correspond to the worldsheet insertion points. …
We construct a $p$-adic analog to AdS/CFT, where an unramified extension of the $p$-adic numbers replaces Euclidean space as the boundary and a version of the Bruhat-Tits tree replaces the bulk. Correlation functions are computed in the simple case of a single massive scalar in the bulk, with results that are strikingly similar to ordinary holographic correlation functions when expressed in terms of local zeta functions. We give some brief discussion of the geometry of $p$-adic chordal distance and of Wilson loops. Our presentation includes an introduction to $p$-adic numbers.
We provide dramatic evidence that `Mellin space' is the natural home for correlation functions in CFTs with weakly coupled bulk duals. In Mellin space, CFT correlators have poles corresponding to an OPE decomposition into `left' and `right' sub-correlators, in direct analogy with the factorization channels of scattering amplitudes. In the regime where these correlators can be computed by tree level Witten diagrams in AdS, we derive an explicit formula for the residues of Mellin amplitudes at the corresponding factorization poles, and we use the conformal Casimir to show that these amplitudes o…
The AdS(4)/CFT(3) duality is a new example of an integrable and exactly solvable AdS/CFT system. There is, however, a puzzling mismatch between the number of degrees of freedom used in the exact solution (4B+4F scattering states) and 8B+8F transverse oscillation modes of critical superstring theory. We offer a resolution of this puzzle by arguing that half of the string modes dissolve in the continuum of two-particle states once alpha' corrections are taken into account. We also check that the conjectured exact S-matrix of AdS(4)/CFT(3) agrees with the tree-level worldsheet calculation.
What is the space of weakly-coupled, gravitational theories which contain massive, higher-spin particles? This class of theories is highly constrained and it is conjectured their ultraviolet completion must be string theory. We provide more evidence for this conjecture by studying the Regge limit in large $N$, $4d$ CFTs with single-trace operators of unbounded spin. We show that in the Regge limit, these theories have bulk scattering amplitudes which are consistent with the string theory prediction to all orders in $1/N$ for large, but finite, coupling. In the language of Regge theory, we show…
In this summary of my talk at Strings 2016, I explain how classical dynamics on an infinite tree graph can be dual to a conformal field theory defined over the $p$-adic numbers. An informal introduction to $p$-adic numbers is followed by a presentation of results on holographic three- and four-point functions. The simplicity of $p$-adic field theories and their similarity to ordinary field theories are illustrated through comparisons of holographic correlators and computations of simple loop diagrams on the field theory side. I close with a discussion of challenges and directions for future wo…
AdS flux vacua with a parametric separation between the AdS and KK scales have been conjectured to be in the Swampland. We study flux compactifications of massive IIA supergravity with O6 planes which are claimed to allow moduli-stabilised and scale separated AdS$_3$ and AdS$_4$ vacua at arbitrary weak coupling and large volume. A recent refinement of the AdS Distance Conjecture is shown to be inconsistent with the class of AdS$_3$ vacua because the requisite discrete higher form symmetries are absent. We further perform a tree-level study of non-perturbative decays for the nonsupersymmetric v…
