We study supersymmetry breaking deformations of the $\mathcal{N}=1$ 5d fixed point known as $E_1$, the UV completion of $SU(2)$ super-Yang-Mills. The phases of the non-supersymmetric theory can be characterized by Chern-Simons terms involving background $U(1)$ gauge fields, allowing us to identify a phase transition at strong coupling. We propose that this may signify the emergence of a non-trivial, non-supersymmetric CFT in $d=4+1$ dimensions.
Using equations proposed by J. Suzuki we compute numerically the first three integrals of motion for $N=1$ supersymmetric CFT. Our computation agrees with the results of ODE-CFT correspondence which was explained in a more general context by S. Lukyanov.
We examine the AdS/CFT correspondence through a manifestly 5D supersymmetric formalism, corresponding to a 4D N=1 supersymmetric CFT. We find that the dimensions of scalar and fermionic component operators are simply related, and that there is a smooth transition of scalar operator dimensions through the value d_s = 2. By using this formalism, we also show that the formula used in the string literature for the dimension of fermion operators is incomplete.
We deform the AdS/CFT Correspondence by the inclusion of a non-supersymmetric scalar mass operator. We discuss the behaviour of the dual 5 dimensional supergravity field then lift the full solution to 10 dimensions. Brane probing the resulting background reveals a potential consistent with the operator we wished to insert.
AdS/CFT is a conjectured equivalence between a field theory without gravity (conformal field theory) and a string theory in a special curved background (anti de-Sitter space), where theories on both sides of the equivalence is supersymmetric. Since the nature as we observe at low energy is non-supersymmetric, it will be very useful if we can have this conjecture in the non-supersymmetric case. Here we will give some evidence that AdS/CFT type duality must work for non-supersymmetric system. We will indicate some calculation which leads us to such conclusion.
The AdS/dCFT correspondence is used to show that a planar q-dimensional superconformal CFT defect expands, under the addition of electric charge and angular momentum, to a supersymmetric higher-dimensional defect of geometry R^q x C, where C is an arbitrary curve. The dual string theory process is the expansion of D-branes and fundamental strings into a supertube in an AdS background.
We compute holographically the dispersion relation for a hydrodynamic mode of fluctuation (the phonino) of the density of supersymmetry current in N = 4 SYM at strong coupling. The mode appears as a pole at low frequency and momentum in the correlator of supercurrents. It has a wave-like propagation, and we find its speed and coefficient of attenuation.
In these lecture notes we first assemble the basic ingredients of supersymmetric gauge theories (particularly N=4 super-Yang-Mills theory), supergravity, and superstring theory. Brane solutions are surveyed. The geometry and symmetries of anti-de Sitter space are discussed. The AdS/CFT correspondence of Maldacena and its application to correlation functions in the the conformal phase of N=4 SYM are explained in considerable detail. A pedagogical treatment of holographic RG flows is given including a review of the conformal anomaly in four-dimensional quantum field theory and its calculation fr…
We study the Casimir energy of bulk fields in AdS$_3$ and its relation to subleading terms in the central charge of the dual CFT$_2$. Computing both sides of the standard CFT$_2$ relation $E=-c/12$ independently we show that this relation is not necessarily satisfied at the level of individual bulk supergravity states, but in theories with sufficient supersymmetry it is restored at the level of bulk supermultiplets. Assuming only $(0,2)$ supersymmetry (or more), we improve the situation by relating quantum corrections to the central charge and the supersymmetric Casimir energy which in turn is…
We show that in any two dimensional conformal field theory with (2, 2) supersymmetry one can define a supersymmetric analog of the usual Renyi entropy of a spatial region A. It differs from the Renyi entropy by a universal function (which we compute) of the central charge, Renyi parameter n and the geometric parameters of A. In the limit $n \to1$ it coincides with the entanglement entropy. Thus, it contains the same information as the Renyi entropy but its computation only involves correlation functions of chiral and anti-chiral operators. We also show that this quantity appears naturally in s…
We propose a three dimensional non-supersymmetric theory that is conformal in the large N limit. In a certain well defined bosonic sub-sector of gauge invariant operators, this theory is planar equivalent to the theory recently proposed by Aharony, Bergman, Jafferis and Maldacena as the theory on multiple M2 branes at an orbifold singularity. We discuss the realization of the theory on a brane configuration of type 0B string theory. Moreover, we propose an 11D gravity dual, obtained by a projection of M-theory on AdS4 x S7 / Z_k.
We show that the $\mathcal{N}=0$ theories on the self-dual D3-branes of Type 0 string theory are in the class of the previously considered tadpole-free orbifolds of $\mathcal{N} = 4$ theory (although they have SO(6) global symmetry) and hence have vanishing beta function in the planar limit to all orders in 't Hooft coupling. Also, all planar amplitudes in this theory are equal to those of $\mathcal{N} = 4$ theory, up to a rescaling of the coupling.
We review current efficient techniques for the construction of multi-leg and multi-loop on-shell scattering amplitudes in supersymmetric gauge theories. Examples in the maximally supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory in four dimensions are included.
Using geometric engineering method of 4D $\mathcal{N}=2$ quiver gauge theories and results on the classification of Kac-Moody (KM) algebras, we show on explicit examples that there exist three sectors of $\mathcal{N}=2$ infrared CFT$_{4}$s. Since the geometric engineering of these CFT$_{4}$s involve type II strings on K3 fibered CY3 singularities, we conjecture the existence of three kinds of singular complex surfaces containing, in addition to the two standard classes, a third indefinite set. To illustrate this hypothesis, we give explicit examples of K3 surfaces with H$_{3}^{4}$ and E$_{10}$…
We find the minimal energy solution describing a folded closed string located at the center of AdS_5 and rotating simultaneously in two planes in S^5 with two arbitrary SO(6) angular momenta J_1 and J_2. In the case when J_1=J_2=J' we observe the precise agreement between the leading coefficient in the large J' expansion of the energy of this solution and the minimal eigen-value of the 1-loop anomalous dimension matrix of the corresponding [J',0,J'] SYM operators obtained by Beisert, Minahan, Staudacher and Zarembo in hep-th/0306139. We find also perfect agreement between string and SYM result…
In this letter we put AdS/CFT dualities involving probe branes to a precision test. On the holographic side we use a new class of supersymmetric D7-brane embeddings into AdS$_5\times$S$^5$, which allow to describe N=4 SYM coupled to massive N=2 supersymmetric flavors on S$^4$. With these embeddings we can compare holographic results to a field theory analysis of the free energy using supersymmetric localization. Localization allows us to get results at strong coupling, and hence to compare in detail to AdS/CFT. We find analytically matching results: a phase transition at the same critical mass…
We present a calculation of three point functions for a class of chiral operators, including the primary ones, in d = 3, N = 8; d = 6, N = (2,0) and d = 4, N = 4 superconformal field theories at large N. These theories are related to the infrared world-volume descriptions of N coincident M2, M5 and D3 branes, respectively. The calculation is done in the framework of the AdS/CFT correspondence and can be given a unified treatment employing a gravitational action in arbitrary dimensions D, coupled to a p+1 form and suitably compactified on AdS(D-2-p) x S(2+p). The interesting cases are obtained …
Correlators of local operators inserted on a straight Wilson loop in a conformal gauge theory have the structure of a one-dimensional "defect" CFT. As was shown in arXiv:1706.00756, in the case of supersymmetric Wilson-Maldacena loop in $\mathcal{N}=4$ SYM one can compute the strong-coupling contributions to 4-point correlators of operator insertions by starting with the AdS$_5 \times S^5$ string action expanded near the AdS$_2$ minimal surface and evaluating the corresponding AdS$_2$ Witten diagrams. We perform the analogous computations in the non-supersymmetric case of the standard Wilson l…
The group embeddings used in orbifolding the AdS/CFT correspondence to arrive at quiver gauge field theories are studied for both supersymmetric and non-supersymmetric cases. For an orbifold $AdS_5 \times S^5/Γ$ the conditions for embeddings of the finite group $Γ$ in the $SU(4) \sim O(6)$ isotropy of $S^5$ are stated in the form of consistency rules, both for Abelian and Non-Abelian $Γ$.
We construct type IIB supergravity duals of non-anticommutative deformed N = 4 SU(N) gauge theories. We consider in particular deformations preserving N = (1,0) and N = (1/2,0) supersymmetry. Such theories can be realised on N D3-branes in specific self-dual 5-form backgrounds. We show that the required 5-form field strengths can be produced by configurations of intersecting D3-branes and we are then able to construct the supergravity solutions in the near-horizon limit. We consider some consequences of this duality, in particular showing that the gravity duals predict that the dimensions of a…
We find new, local, non-supersymmetric conformal field theories obtained by relevant deformations of the N=4 super Yang Mills theory in the large $N$ limit. We contruct interpolating supergravity solutions that naturally represent the flow from the N=4 super Yang Mills UV theory to these non-supersymmetric IR fixed points. We also study the linearization around the N=4 superconformal point of N=1 supersymmetric, marginal deformations. We show that they give rise to N=1 superconformal fixed points, as expected from field-theoretical arguments.
We compute one loop free energy for D=4 Vasiliev higher spin gravities based on Konstein-Vasiliev algebras hu(m;n|4), ho(m;n|4) or husp(m;n|4) and subject to higher spin preserving boundary conditions, which are conjectured to be dual to the U(N), O(N) or USp(N) singlet sectors, respectively, of free CFTs on the boundary of $AdS_4$. Ordinary supersymmetric higher spin theories appear as special cases of Konstein-Vasiliev theories, when the corresponding higher spin algebra contains $OSp({\cal N}|4)$ as subalgebra. In $AdS_4$ with $S^3$ boundary, we use a modified spectral zeta function method,…
To reveal the Schwinger effect for quarks, i.e., pair creation process of quarks and antiquarks, we derive the vacuum decay rate at strong coupling using AdS/CFT correspondence. Magnetic fields, in addition to the electric field responsible for the pair creation, causes prominent effects on the rate, and is important also in experiments such as RHIC/LHC heavy ion collisions. In this paper, through the gravity dual we obtain the full Euler-Heisenberg Lagrangian of N=2 supersymmetric QCD and study the Schwinger mechanism with not only a constant electric field but also a constant magnetic field …
We show that type 0B theory has a classical AdS_5 x S^5 solution and argue that it is stable at the string-theory level for small enough radius. The dual 4-d conformal field theory is the infrared limit of the theory on N electric D3-branes coincident with N magnetic D3-branes. We explicitly construct this SU(N) x SU(N) gauge theory with global SO(6) symmetry and verify that the one-loop term in the beta function vanishes exactly, while the two-loop term vanishes in the large N limit. We find that this theory is related by a certain projection to the maximally supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory …
We derive a simple formula for the action of any supersymmetric solution to minimal gauged supergravity in the AdS$_4$/CFT$_3$ correspondence. Such solutions are equipped with a supersymmetric Killing vector, and we show that the holographically renormalized action may be expressed entirely in terms of the weights of this vector field at its fixed points, together with certain topological data. In this sense, the classical gravitational partition function localizes in the bulk. We illustrate our general formula with a number of explicit examples, in which exact dual field theory computations a…
We study an anisotropic scale transformation in the worldsheet description of D3-branes in Type IIB theory, and show that the transformation is really a symmetry in a region near D3-branes. AdS/CFT correspondence follows from this symmetry. We will explicitly show that Wilson loops in N=4 supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory and minimal surfaces in AdS_5 are related by the symmetry. The functional form of a supersymmetric Wilson loop operator is naturally derived from our worldsheet point of view.
Following Polchinski and Sully (arXiv:1104.5077), we consider a generalized Wilson loop operator containing a constant parameter $ζ$ in front of the scalar coupling term, so that $ζ=0$ corresponds to the standard Wilson loop, while $ζ=1$ to the locally supersymmetric one. We compute the expectation value of this operator for circular loop as a function of $ζ$ to second order in the planar weak coupling expansion in N=4 SYM theory. We then explain the relation of the expansion near the two conformal points $ζ=0$ and $ζ=1$ to the correlators of scalar operators inserted on the loop. We also disc…
We study solutions of type IIB supergravity which are SL(2,R) x SU(2) x U(1)^2 invariant deformations of AdS_3 x S^3 x K3 and take the form of products of self-dual spacelike warped AdS_3 and a deformed three-sphere. One of these backgrounds has been recently argued to be relevant for a derivation of Kerr/CFT from string theory, whereas the remaining ones are holographic duals of two-dimensional dipole theories and their S-duals. We show that each of these backgrounds is holographically dual to a deformation of the DLCQ of the D1-D5 CFT by a specific supersymmetric (1,2) operator, which we wri…
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 study the global geometry of a general class of spacetimes of relevance to the supersymmetric $AdS_3/CFT_2$ correspondence in eleven-dimensional supergravity. Specifically, we study spacetimes admitting a globally-defined $\mathbb{R}^{1,1}$ frame, a globally-defined frame bundle with structure group contained in Spin(7), and an $AdS_3$ event horizon or conformal boundary. We show how the global frame bundle may be canonically realised by globally-defined null sections of the spin bundle, which we use to truncate eleven-dimensional supergravity to a gravitational theory of a frame with struc…
The property of the conformal algebra to contain the Schrödinger algebra in one less space dimension is extended to the supersymmetric case. More precisely, we determine the counterpart of any field theory admissible super conformal algebra. Even if each type of superalgebra provides a different solution, its basis decomposition into two copies of the super Schrödinger algebra, differing only by their super Heisenberg part, remains valid in all the cases, so generalizing a feature already observed in the non supersymmetric conformal case.
There is no known obstructions, but we have not been aware of any concrete examples, either. The Wess-Zumino consistency condition for the conformal anomaly says that $a$ cannot change but does not say anything about $c$. In supersymmetric models, both $a$ and $c$ are determined from the triangle t'Hooft anomalies and the unitarity demands that both must be fixed, so the unitary supersymmetric conformal field theories do not admit such a possibility. Given this field theory situation, we construct an effective AdS/CFT model without supersymmetry in which $c$ changes under exactly marginal defo…
We study multipoint correlators of protected scalars on the Maldacena-Wilson line in $\mathcal{N}=4$ SYM. Working at weak coupling in the planar limit, we derive an explicit recursion relation that captures next-to-leading order correlators with an arbitrary number of insertions of the fundamental scalar field. By pinching fundamental scalars together, we can build composite protected operators with higher values of the R-charge. Our result then encompasses arbitrary $n$-point correlators of protected operators with arbitrary weight. As a demonstration of our method, we give explicit formulae …
We revisit the study of the probe scalar quasinormal modes of a class of three-charge supersymmetric microstate geometries. We compute the real and imaginary parts of the quasinormal modes and show that in the parameter range when the geometries have large AdS region, the spectrum is precisely reproduced from a D1-D5 orbifold CFT analysis. The spectrum includes the slow decaying modes pointed out by Eperon, Reall, and Santos. We analyse in detail the nature of the quasinormal modes by studying the scalar wavefunction. We show that these modes correspond to slow leakage of excitation from AdS t…
We study possible CFT duals of supersymmetric five dimensional black rings in the presence of supersymmetric higher derivative corrections to the N=2 supergravity action. A Virasoro algebra associated to an asymptotic symmetry group of solutions is defined by using the Kerr/CFT approach. We find the central charge and compute the microscopic entropy which is in precise agreement with the macroscopic entropy. Although apparently related to a different aspect of the near-horizon geometry and a different Virasoro algebra, we find that the c-extremization method leads to the same central charge an…
In this paper we compute the holographic boundary entropy for half-BPS Janus deformations of the $AdS_3\times S^3\times T^4$ vacuum of type IIB supergravity. Previous work \cite{Chiodaroli:2009yw} has shown that there are two independent deformations of this sort. In one case, the six-dimensional dilaton jumps across the interface, while the other case displays a jump of axion and four-form potential. In case of a jump of the six-dimensional dilaton, it is possible to compare the holographic result with the weak-coupling result for a two-dimensional interface CFT where the radii of the compact…
In a series of recent papers, a special kind of AdS$_2$/CFT$_1$ duality was observed: the boundary correlators of elementary fields that appear in the Lagrangian of a 2d conformal theory in rigid AdS$_2$ background are the same as the correlators of the corresponding primary operators in the chiral half of that 2d CFT in flat space restricted to the real line. The examples considered were: (i) the Liouville theory where the operator dual to the Liouville scalar in AdS$_2$ is the stress tensor; (ii) the abelian Toda theory where the operators dual to the Toda scalars are the $\mathcal W$-algebr…
The Wilson loop in N=4 supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory admits a dual description as a macroscopic string configuration in the adS/CFT correspondence. We discuss the correction to the quark anti-quark potential arising from the fluctuations of the superstring.
We present a novel way to organise the finite size spectra of a class of conformal field theories (CFT) with $\mathcal{N}=2$ or (non-linear) $\mathcal{N}=4$ superconformal symmetry. Generalising the spinon basis of the $SU(n)_1$ WZW theories, we introduce supersymmetric spinons $(ϕ^-, ϕ^{+})$, which form a representation of the supersymmetry algebra. In each case, we show how to construct a multi-spinon basis of the chiral CFT spectra. The multi-spinon states are labelled by a collection $\{ n_j \}$ of (discrete) momenta. The state-content for given choice of $\{ n_j \}$ is determined through …
We consider certain classes of operators in the exact conformal field theory SL(2,R) x SU(2) x U(1)^4 describing strings in an AdS(3) x S(3) x T4 geometry supported by Neveu--Schwarz 3-form fluxes. This background arises in the near-horizon limit of a system of NS5-branes wrapped on a 4-torus and F1-branes smeared on the 4-torus when both types of branes are located at the same point in their common transverse space. We find a class of operators that lead to spacetime supersymmetric deformations. It is remarkable that most of these operators are not chiral primary with respect to the N=2 super…
We study the embedding of spacetime filling D7-branes in beta-deformed backgrounds which, according to the AdS/CFT dictionary, corresponds to flavoring beta-deformed N=4 super Yang-Mills. We consider supersymmetric and more general non-supersymmetric three parameter deformations. The equations of motion for quadratic fluctuations of a probe D7-brane wrapped on a deformed three-sphere exhibit a non-trivial coupling between scalar and vector modes induced by the deformation. Nevertheless, we manage to solve them analytically and find that the mesonic mass spectrum is discrete, with a mass gap an…
AdS/CFT-correspondence establishes a relationship between supersymmetric gravity (SUGRA) on Anti-de-Sitter (AdS) space and supersymmetric Yang-Mills (SYM) theory which is conformaly invariant (CFT). The AdS space is the solution of the Einstein-Hilbert equations with a constant negative curvature. Why is this relationship important? What kind of relationship is this? How does one find it? The purpose of this text is to answer these questions. We try to present the main ideas and arguments underlying this relationship, starting with a brief sketch of old string theory statements and proceeding …
Following work on theories with SU(N) gauge groups, we perform a large-N saddle-point approximation of the measure for ADHM multi-instantons in N=4 supersymmetric gauge theories with symplectic or orthogonal gauge groups. For Sp(N) we find that a saddle-point only exists in the even instanton charge sector. For either Sp(N) or SO(N) the saddle-point solution parametrizes AdS_5 x RP^5, the dual supergravity geometry in the AdS/CFT correspondence for these theories. The instanton measure at large-N has the form of the partition function of ten-dimensional N=1 supersymmetric gauge theory with a u…
The quasiconformal method provides us with a unified approach to the construction of minimal unitary representations (minrep) of noncompact groups, their deformations as well as their supersymmetric extensions. We review the quasiconformal construction of the minrep of SO(d,2), its deformations and their applications to unitary realizations of AdS_{(d+1)}/CFT_d higher spin algebras and their deformations for arbitrary d and supersymmetric extensions for dimensions d less than seven. AdS_{(d+1)}/CFT_d higher spin algebras, their deformations and supersymmetric extensions are given by the envelo…
We study Lorentzian supersymmetric configurations in $D=4$ and $D=5$ gauged $\mathcal{N}=2$ supergravity. We show that there are smooth $1/2$ BPS solutions which are asymptotically AdS$_{4}$ and AdS$_{5}$ with a planar boundary, a compact spacelike direction and with a Wilson line on that circle. There are solitons where the $S^{1}$ shrinks smoothly to zero in the interior, with a magnetic flux through the circle determined by the Wilson line, which are AdS analogues of the Melvin fluxtube. There is also a solution with a constant gauge field, which is pure AdS. Both solutions preserve half of…
We consider three dimensional conformal field theories living on a stack of N anti-M2 branes at the tip of eight-dimensional supersymmetric cones. The corresponding supergravity solution is obtained by changing sign to the four-form in the Freund-Rubin solution representing M2 branes ("skew-whiffing" transformation) and it is known to be stable. The existence of these non supersymmetric, stable field theories, at least in the large N limit, is a peculiarity of the AdS4/CFT3 correspondence with respect to the usual AdS5/CFT4, and it is worthwhile to study it. We analyze in detail the KK spectru…
We construct IIB supergravity (viewed as dilatonic gravity) background with non-trivial dilaton and with curved four-dimensional space. Such a background may describe another vacuum of maximally supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory or strong coupling regime of (non)-supersymmetric gauge theory with (power-like) running gauge coupling which depends on curvature. Curvature dependent quark-antiquark potential is calculated where the geometry type of hyperbolic (or de Sitter universe) shows (or not) the tendency of the confinement. Generalization of IIB supergravity background with non-constant axion …
We apply a recently proposed Kerr/CFT correspondence to extremal supersymmetric five-dimensional charged spinning black holes, constructed by Breckenridge, Myers, Peet and Vafa. By computing the central charge of the dual CFT and Frolov-Thorne temperature, Cardy's formula succeeds in reproducing Bekenstein-Hawking area law.
The D1D5 CFT has a large set of states that are supersymmetric at the `free' orbifold point in moduli space. When we perturb away from this point, some of these states join into long multiplets and lift in energy, while others remain supersymmetric. The count of unlifted states can be bounded below by an index, but the index does not yield the pattern of lifting; i.e., which states join into a long multiplet and how much this multiplet lifts. In this paper we consider the simple case of the D1D5 CFT where the orbifold CFT is a sigma model with targets space $(T^4)^2/S_2$ and consider states at…
