We present new SO(4)-invariant and non-supersymmetric instanton solutions for the conformally coupled m^2=-2 and massive m^2=+4 (pseudo)scalars arising from a consistent truncation of 11-dimensional supergravity over AdS_4 x S^7/Z_k when the internal space is a S^1 Hopf fibration on CP^3, and we consider backreaction. In fact, the bulk configurations associate with (anti)membranes wrapped around mixed internal (and external) directions, which in turn probe the Wick-rotated or skew-whiffed background, break all supersymmetries as well as parity invariance. From near the boundary behavior of the closed solution for the coupled bulk (pseudo)scalar, we get a marginal triple-trace deformation with mixed boundary condition (valid also for the bulk massless m^2=0 (pseudo)scalar, raised when considering the external space backreaction, with Dirichlet boundary condition) and as a result, the corresponding boundary effective potential is unbounded from below and causes an instability because of the Fubini-like instanton. Presenting dual effective actions, we see that the boundary solutions and counterparts realize in singlet sectors of three-dimensional U(N) and O(N) Chern--Simons-matter field theories. In particular, we use versions of massless and mass-deformed regular and critical boson and fermion models, find instantons and confirm state-operator AdS_4/CFT_3 correspondence and also Bose-Fermi duality at the level of the solutions. In addition, we discuss on relations of our setups with Vasiliev's Higher-Spin theories, deformations of the Aharony-Bergman-Jafferis-Maldacena model and other related studies.
The four-form field recently considered by Hawking and Turok couples naturally to a charged membrane, across which the effective cosmological constant has a discontinuity. We present instantons for the creation of an open inflationary universe surrounded by a membrane. They can also be used to describe the nucleation of a membrane on a pre-existing inflationary background. This process typically decreases the value of the effective cosmological constant and may lead to a novel scenario of eternal inflation. Moreover, by coupling the inflaton field to the membrane, the troublesome singularities…
We consider an open string stretched between a Y=0 brane and a Y_theta=0 brane. The latter brane is rotated with respect to the former by an angle theta, and is described by a non-diagonal boundary S-matrix. This system interpolates smoothly between the Y-Y (theta =0) and the Y-bar Y (theta = pi/2) systems, which are described by diagonal boundary S-matrices. We use integrability to compute the energies of one-particle states at weak coupling up to leading wrapping order (4, 6 loops) as a function of the angle. The results for the diagonal cases exactly match with those obtained previously.
The ground-state energy of integrably-twisted theories is analyzed in finite volume. We derive the leading and next-to-leading order (NLO) Lüscher-type corrections for large volumes of the vacuum energy for integrable theories with twisted boundary conditions and twisted S-matrix. We then derive the twisted thermodynamic Bethe ansatz (TBA) equations to describe exactly the ground state, from which we obtain an untwisted Y-system. The two approaches are compared by expanding the TBA equations to NLO, and exact agreement is found. We give explicit results for the O(4) model and for the three-par…
In this article we review the recently discovered asymptotic integrability in the planar N = 4 SYM theory and discuss its breakdown beyond the asymptotic region due to the wrapping interactions. We also discuss novel dynamical tests of the AdS/CFT correspondence one can perform in the special cases when the wrapping interactions may be neglected.
We test the Maldacena proposal for the Hartle-Hawking late time quantum state in an asymptotically de Sitter universe. In particular, we calculate the on-shell action for scalar instantons on the southern hemisphere of the four-sphere and compare the result with the renormalized on-shell action for scalar instantons in EAdS$_4$. The two results agree provided the corresponding instanton moduli as well as the curvature radii are analytically continued. The instanton solutions in de Sitter are novel and satisfy mixed boundary conditions. We also point out that instantons on $S^4$ calculate the r…
The 1/8 BPS $D^6\mathcal{R}^4$ coupling in type II string theory compactified on $T^2$ receives contributions from worldsheet instantons and anti-instantons wrapping the $T^2$, up to genus three in string perturbation theory. These involve contributions separately from bound states of instantons and anti-instantons, which are qualitatively similar to such contributions to the 1/2 and 1/4 BPS couplings. At genus two, the $D^6\mathcal{R}^4$ coupling also receives contributions from instanton/anti-instanton bound states unlike the 1/2 and 1/4 BPS couplings, which is a consequence of a T-duality i…
With use of a 6-form field strength of ten-dimensional type IIA supergravity over AdS_4 x CP^3, when S^7/Z_k is considered as a S^1 Hopf fibration on CP^3, we earn a fully localized solution in the bulk of Euclideanized AdS_4. Indeed, this object appears in the external space because of wrapping a D4(M5)-brane over some parts of the respective internal spaces. Interestingly, this supersymmetry breaking SU(4)x U(1)-singlet mode exists in already known spectra when one uses the 8_c gravitino representation of SO(8). To adjust the boundary theory, we should swap the original 8_s and 8_c represent…
We consider the interaction between instantons and anti-instantons in four-dimensional N=4 super-Yang-Mills theory at large N and large 't Hooft coupling as described by D-instantons via AdS/CFT duality. We give an estimate of the strength of the interaction in various regimes. We discuss also the case of Non-Commutative super Yang-Mills theory where the interaction between instantons and anti-instantons can be used as a way to probe the locality properties of the theory in the supergravity picture, without explicit reference to the definition of local operators.
We investigate non-extremal D-instantons in an asymptotically $ AdS_5 \times S^5$ background and the role they play in the $ AdS_5 / CFT_4$ correspondence. We find that the holographic dual operators of non-extremal D-instanton configurations do not correspond to self-dual Yang-Mills instantons, and we compute explicitly the deviation from self-duality. Furthermore, a class of non-extremal D-instantons yield Euclidean axionic wormhole solutions with two asymptotic boundaries. After Wick rotating, this provides a playground for investigating holography in the presence of cosmological singularit…
D-instantons are considered as a probe of coinciding $N$ D3-branes. They can feel an external metric via the commutator terms in their effective action. We show that when the D-instantons are separated from the D3-branes, the metric which is probed at the one loop level, {\it exactly} coincides with that of the BPS R-R 3-brane. Interesting connection of this result to the possible explanation of the AdS/CFT correspondence within IKKT M-atrix theory is discussed.
We propose a prescription to calculate the superconformal index of the ${\cal N}=4$ $U(N)$ supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory with finite $N$ on the AdS side. The finite $N$ corrections are included as contributions of D3-branes wrapped around three-cycles in $\boldsymbol{S}^5$, which are calculated as the index of the gauge theories realized on the wrapped branes. The single-wrapping contribution has been studied in a previous work, and we further confirm that the inclusion of multiple-wrapping contributions correctly reproduces the higher order terms as far as we have checked numerically.
We consider aspects of instanton dynamics in the large-N limit using the AdS/CFT duality for D0/D4 bound states. In the supergravity picture of wrapped D0-brane world-lines on D4-branes, we find the single-instanton measure and discuss its dependence on compactification finite-size effects, as well as its matching to perturbative results. In the non-supersymmetric case, the same dynamical effects that produce the theta-angle dependence perturbatively in 1/N, render the instantons unstable, although approximate instantons of very small size still exist. The smeared D0/D4 black-brane supergravit…
I present an informal overview of several recent results about Euclidean saddle points sourced by axion fields in quantum gravity (AdS/CFT), such as wormholes, their extremal "D-instanton" limits and their under-extremal singular counterparts. Concerning wormholes we argue they cannot contribute to the path integral because a stability analysis suggests they fragment like other super-extremal objects. For concrete AdS/CFT embeddings the Euclidean saddle point solutions are neatly described by geodesic curves living inside moduli spaces and can typically be solved for using group theory. Our wo…
The series of perturbative fluctuations around a multi-instanton contribution to a specific class of correlation functions of supercurrents in $\cal N=4$ supersymmetric SU(N) Yang-Mills theory is examined in the light of the AdS/CFT correspondence. Subject to certain plausible assumptions, we argue that a given term in the 1/N expansion in such a background receives only a finite number of perturbative corrections in the 't Hooft limit. Such instanton non-renormalisation theorems would explain, for example, the exact agreement of certain weak coupling Yang-Mills instanton calculations with the…
We examine ADHM multi-instantons in the conformal N=2 supersymmetric Sp(N) gauge theory with one anti-symmetric tensor and four fundamental hypermultiplets. We argue that the ADHM construction and measure can also be deduced from purely field theoretic considerations and also from the dynamics of D-instantons in the presence of D3-branes, D7-branes and an orientifold O7-plane. The measure then admits a large-N saddle-point approximation where the D3-branes disappear but the background is changed to AdS_5 x S^5/Z_2, as expected on the basis of the AdS/CFT correspondence. The large-N measure dis…
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…
D-instanton effects are studied for the IIB orientifold T^2/IΩ(-1)^{F_L} of Sen using type I/heterotic duality. An exact one loop threshold calculation of t_8 \tr F^4 and t_8(\tr F^2)^2 terms for the heterotic string on T^2 with Wilson lines breaking SO(32) to SO(8)^4 is related to D-instanton induced terms in the worldvolume of D7 branes in the orientifold. Introducing D3 branes and using the AdS/CFT correspondence in this case, these terms are used to calculate Yang-Mills instanton contributions to four point functions of the large N_c limit of N=2 USp(2N_c) SYM with four fundamental and one…
Recent work on adding flavour to the generalized AdS/CFT correspondence is reviewed. In particular, we consider instanton configurations on two coincident D7 brane probes. These are matched to the Higgs branch of the dual field theory. In AdS_5 x S^5, the instanton generates a flow of the meson spectrum. For non-supersymmetric gravity backgrounds, the Higgs branch is lifted by a potential, which has non-trivial physical implications. In particular these configurations provide a gravity dual description of Bose-Einstein condensation and of a thermal phase transition.
We describe some remarkable properties of the so-called Information Metric on instanton moduli space. This Metric is manifestly gauge and conformally invariant and coincides with the Euclidean AdS_5 metric on the one-instanton SU(2) moduli space for the standard metric on R^4. We propose that for an arbitrary boundary metric the AdS/CFT bulk space-time is the instanton moduli space equipped with the Information Metric. To test this proposal, we examine the variation of the instanton moduli and the Information Metric for first-order perturbations of the boundary metric and obtain three non-triv…
From a consistent Kaluza-Klein truncation of 11-dimensional supergravity over AdS_4 x CP^3 x S^1/Z_k, with a general 4-form ansatz, we arrive at a set of equations and solutions for the included fields. In particular, we have a bulk equation for a self-interacting (pseudo)scalar with arbitrary mass. By computing the energy-momentum tensors of the associated Einstein equations, to include the backreaction, and setting them to zero, we solve the resulting equations with the bulk one and get solutions corresponding to marginal and marginally relevant deformations of the boundary CFT_3, which brea…
We examine a certain 16-fermion correlator in {\cal N}=4 supersymmetric SU(N) gauge theory in 4 dimensions. Generalizing recent SU(2) results of Bianchi, Green, Kovacs and Rossi, we calculate the exact N-dependence of the effective 16-fermion vertex at the 1-instanton level, and find precise agreement in the large-N limit with the prediction of the type IIB superstring on AdS_5 x S^5. This suggests that the string theory prediction for the 1-instanton amplitude considered here is not corrected by higher-order terms in the alpha' expansion.
For the 11-dimensional supergravity over AdS_4 x S^7/Z_k, beginning with a general 4-from ansatz and the main geometry unchanged, we get a tower of massive and tachyonic pseudoscalars. Indeed, the resultant equations can be assigned to the so-called $ϕ^4$ actions of the non-minimally coupled scalar-tensor theories with a cosmological constant. We focus on a well-known tachyonic and a new massive bulk mode, which are singlet under the internal group and break all supersymmetries, associated with skew-whiffing and Wick-rotating of the background 4-from flux, respectively. The first one is the co…
We consider ADHM instantons in product group gauge theories that arise from D3-branes located at points in the orbifold R^6/Z_p. At finite N we argue that the ADHM construction and collective coordinate integration measure can be deduced from the dynamics of D-instantons in the D3-brane background. For the large-N conformal field theories of this type, we compute a saddle-point approximation of the ADHM integration measure and show that it is proportional to the partition function of D-instantons in the dual AdS_5 x S^5/Z_p background, in agreement with the orbifold AdS/CFT correspondence. Mat…
We consider non-perturbative effects in the beta-deformed N=4 supersymmetric gauge theory in the context of the AdS/CFT correspondence. We concentrate on the correlators of the Yang-Mills operators which correspond to the lowest Kaluza-Klein modes propagating on the dual supergravity background found by Lunin and Maldacena in hep-th/0502086. In particular, we calculate all multi-instanton contributions to these correlators in the beta-deformed SYM and find a compelling agreement with the results expected in supergravity.
We study the instantons (or bounces) in the Brown-Teitelboim (BT) mechanism of relaxation of cosmological constant which is a cosmological version of the Schwinger mechanism. The BT mechanism is a false vacuum decay of (A)dS$_{d+1}$ (and $R^{1, d}$) spaces via spontaneous nucleations of spherical $(d-1)$-branes and thus ostensibly has bearings on (A)dS$_{d+1}$/CFT$_d$ holography. In this paper we focus on the four-dimensional case, although the higher or lower-dimensional generalization is straightforward. As is the case with pair productions near black hole and de Sitter horizons, we show tha…
Following the work of Lima et al on the exact evaluation of the nonperturbative contribution to the superpotential from open-membrane instanton in Heterotic M-Theory, we evaluate systematically the contribution to the superpotential of a membrane instanton obtained by wrapping of a single M2 brane, once, on an isolated supersymmetric 3-cycle in a G_2-holonomy manifold. We then try to relate the results obtained to those sketched out in Harvey and Moore. We also do a heat-kernel asymptotics analysis to see whether one gets similar UV-divergent terms for (one or both of) the bosonic and fermioni…
We determine the one-instanton corrections to the universal hypermultiplet moduli space coming both from Euclidean membranes and NS-fivebranes wrapping the cycles of a (rigid) Calabi-Yau threefold. These corrections are completely encoded by a single function characterizing a generic four-dimensional quaternion-Kahler metric without isometries. We give explicit solutions for this function describing all one-instanton corrections, including the fluctuations around the instanton to all orders in the string coupling constant. In the semi-classical limit these results are in perfect agreement with…
We study the string instanton wrapping a non-trivial two-cycle in CP(3) of the type IIA string theory compactified on AdS_4 x CP(3) superspace and find that it has twelve fermionic zero modes associated with 1/2 of the supersymmetry of the background thus manifesting that this classical instanton configuration is 1/2 BPS
We study AdS$_{7}$/CFT$_{6}$ correspondence between M-theory on AdS$_{7} \times S^{4}$ and the 6D $\mathcal{N} = (2,0)$ superconformal field theory. In particular we focus on Wilson surfaces. We use the conjecture that the (2,0) theory compactified on $S^{1}$ is equivalent to the 5D maximal super Yang-Mills (MSYM) and Wilson surfaces wrapping this $S^1$ correspond to Wilson loops in 5D MSYM. The Wilson loops in 5D MSYM obtained by the localization technique result in the Chern-Simons matrix model. We calculate the expectation values of Wilson surfaces in large rank symmetric representations an…
Instanton effects may have implications for hadronization of quark-gluon plasma as it cools. Here we study dispersion relations of mesons in a strongly coupled plasma with an instanton background present. It will be shown that at higher energies the instanton effect diminishes and some comments on the limiting velocity of mesons in the plasma. the profile function of mesons on the gravity side is considered also because of its relevance to energy loss of quark in plasma.
We give explicit expressions for the finite frequency greybody factor, quasinormal modes and Love numbers of Kerr black holes by computing the exact connection coefficients of the radial and angular parts of the Teukolsky equation. This is obtained by solving the connection problem of the confluent Heun equation in terms of the explicit expression of irregular Virasoro conformal blocks as sums over partitions via the AGT correspondence. In the relevant approximation limits our results are in agreement with existing literature. The method we use can be extended to solve the linearized Einstein …
Assuming that the world-sheet sigma-model in the AdS/CFT correspondence is an integrable {\em quantum} field theory, we deduce that there might be new corrections to the spin-chain/string Bethe ansatz paradigm. These come from virtual particles propagating around the circumference of the cylinder and render Bethe ansatz quantization conditions only approximate. We determine the nature of these corrections both at weak and at strong coupling in the near BMN limit, and find that the first corrections behave qualitatively as wrapping interactions at weak coupling.
We write an integral equation that incorporates finite corrections to the large spin asymptotics of N=4 SYM twist operators from the non-linear integral equation. We show that these corrections are an all-loop result, not affected by wrapping effects, and agree, after determining the strong coupling expansion, with string theory predictions.
We present a detailed derivation of the recently suggested new type of hill-top inflation [arXiv:1509.07270] originating from the microcanonical density matrix initial conditions in cosmology driven by conformal field theory (CFT). The cosmological instantons of topology $S^1\times S^3$, which set up these initial conditions, have the shape of a garland with multiple periodic oscillations of the scale factor of the spatial $S^3$-section. They describe underbarrier oscillations of the inflaton and scale factor in the vicinity of the inflaton potential maximum, which gives a sufficient amount of…
The path integration technique recently developed for the statistical sum of the microcanonical ensemble in cosmology is applied to the calculation of the one-loop preexponential factor in the cosmological model generated by a conformal field theory with a large number of quantum species -- the model of initial conditions possibly related to the resolution of the cosmological constant and landscape problems. The result is obtained for the family of background cosmological instantons with one oscillation of the FRW scale factor. The magnitude of the prefactor is analytically and numerically est…
We study supergravity instantons sourced by axion (and saxion) fields in the Euclidean $AdS_3\times S^3 \times CY_2$ vacua of IIB supergravity. Such instantons are described by geodesic curves on the moduli space; the timelike geodesics can describe Euclidean wormholes, the lightlike geodesics describe (generalisations of) D-instantons and spacelike geodesics are sub-extremal versions thereof. We perform a concrete classification of such geodesics and find that, despite earlier claims, the wormholes fail to be regular. A subclass of the lightlike geodesics is supersymmetric and, up to dualitie…
We study, using ADHM construction, instanton effects in an ${\CN}=2$ superconformal $Sp(N)$ gauge theory, arising as effective field theory on a system of $N$ D-3-branes near an orientifold 7-plane and 8 D-7-branes in type I' string theory. We work out the measure for the collective coordinates of multi-instantons in the gauge theory and compare with the measure for the collective coordinates of $(-1)$-branes in the presence of 3- and 7-branes in type I' theory. We analyse the large-N limit of the measure and find that it admits two classes of saddle points: In the first class the space of col…
We propose formulas for the Lüscher type finite size energy correction of multiparticle states on the interval and evaluate them for the simplest case in the AdS/CFT setting. By this we determine the leading wrapping correction to the anomalous dimension of the simplest determinant type operator, which corresponds to a one particle state on the Y=0 brane.
We use AdS/CFT duality to study the large N_c limit of the meson spectrum on the Higgs branch of a strongly coupled, N=2 supersymmetric SU(N_c) gauge theory with N_f =2 fundamental hypermultiplets. In the dual supergravity description, the Higgs branch is described by SU(2) instanton configurations on D7-branes in an AdS background. We compute the spectral flow parameterized by the size of a single instanton. In the large N_c limit, there is a sense in which the flow from zero to infinite instanton size, or Higgs VEV, can be viewed as a closed loop. We show that this flow leads to a non-trivia…
We revisit the scalar $O(N)$ model in the dimension range $4<d<6$ and study the effects caused by its metastability. As shown in previous work, this model formally possesses a fixed point where, perturbatively in the $1/N$ expansion, the operator scaling dimensions are real and above the unitarity bound. Here, we further show that these scaling dimensions do acquire small imaginary parts due to the instanton effects. In $d$ dimensions and for large $N$, we find that they are of order $e^{-N f(d)}$, where, remarkably, the function $f(d)$ equals the sphere free energy of a conformal scalar in $d…
We show that the correspondence among $AdS_{3}/CFT_{2}$, the 1D Schwarzian Model, Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev model and 2+1D Topological Quantum Gravity can be extended to the case of $dS_{3}/CFT_{2}$. The $R$-matrix, related to the gravitational scattering amplitude near the horizon of $dS_{3}$ black hole, corresponds (on the side of the holographic projection) to a crossing kernel in the Schwarzian Model. The $R$-matrix is related to the 6j-symbol of SU$(1,1)$. We also find that in the Euclidean $dS_{3}$ a new Kac-Moody symmetry of instantons emerges out. We dub these new solutions {\it Kac-Moodions}.…
We investigate emergent holography of weakly coupled two-dimensional hyperKähler sigma model on cotangent bundle of (N-1)-dimensional complex projective space at zero and finite temperature. The sigma model is motivated by the spacetime conformal field theory dual to the near-horizon geometry of Q1 D1-brane bound to Q5 D5-brane wrapped on four-torus times circle, where N = Q1*Q5. The sigma model admits nontrivial instanton for all N greater than or equal to 2, which serves as a local probe of emergent holographic spacetime. We define emergent geometry of the spacetime as that of instanton modu…
Recently it has been shown that string instanton effects may give rise to neutrino Majorana masses in certain classes of semi-realistic string compactifications. In this paper we make a systematic search for supersymmetric MSSM-like Type II Gepner orientifold constructions admitting boundary states associated with instantons giving rise to neutrino Majorana masses and other L- and/or B-violating operators. We analyze the zero mode structure of D-brane instantons on general type II orientifold compactifications, and show that only instantons with O(1) symmetry can have just the two zero modes r…
We study the two-centred AdS_7 x S^4 solution of eleven-dimensional supergravity using the Euclidean path-integral approach, and find that it can be interpreted as an instanton, signalling the splitting of the throat of the M5 brane. The instanton is interpreted as indicating a coherent superposition of the quantum states corresponding to classically distinct solutions. This is a surprising result since it leads, through the AdS/CFT correspondence, to contradictory implications for the dual (2,0) superconformal field theory on the M5 brane. We also argue that similar instantons should exist fo…
In this paper we prove the equivalence among (i) the weakly coupled worldsheet string theory described by the coset sigma model $\frac{SL(2,\mathbb{R})_k\times U(1)}{U(1)}\times S^3 \times T^4$ with $SL(2,\mathbb{R})$ WZW level $k\geq 2$, (ii) the full near horizon theory of the NS5 branes with $k$ NS5 branes wrapping $T^4\times S^1$, $p\gg1$ F1 strings wrapping $S^1$ and $n$ units of momentum along the $S^1$ and (iii) the single trace $T\bar{T}$ deformation of string theory in $AdS_3\times S^3\times T^4$. As a check we compute the spectrum of the spacetime theory by performing BRST quantizati…
We derive the non-perturbative corrections to the free energy of the two-matrix model in terms of its algebraic curve. The eigenvalue instantons are associated with the vanishing cycles of the curve. For the (p,q) critical points our results agree with the geometrical interpretation of the instanton effects recently discovered in the CFT approach. The form of the instanton corrections implies that the linear relation between the FZZT and ZZ disc amplitudes is a general property of the 2D string theory and holds for any classical background. We find that the agreement with the CFT results holds…
We compute the quantum gravity partition function of M-theory on $AdS_4 \times X_7 $ by using localization techniques in four-dimensional gauged supergravity obtained by a consistent truncation on the Sasaki-Einstein manifold $X_{7}$. The supergravity path integral reduces to a finite dimensional integral over two collective coordinates that parametrize the localizing instanton solutions. The renormalized action of the off-shell instanton solutions depends linearly and holomorphically on the "square root" prepotential evaluated at the center of $AdS_{4}$. The partition function resembles the L…
We present a self-contained study of ADHM multi-instantons in SU(N) gauge theory, especially the novel interplay with supersymmetry and the large-N limit. We give both field- and string-theoretic derivations of the N=4 supersymmetric multi-instanton action and collective coordinate integration measure. As a central application, we focus on certain n-point functions G_n, n=16, 8 or 4, in N=4 SU(N) gauge theory at the conformal point (as well as on related higher-partial-wave correlators); these are correlators in which the 16 exact supersymmetric and superconformal fermion zero modes are satura…
In this letter we describe an infinite family of new N=1 AdS_5/CFT_4 dual pairs which arise from M5-branes wrapping Riemann surfaces in Calabi-Yau threefolds. We use the relevant brane constructions to compute the central charges of the infrared fixed points from the M5-brane anomaly polynomial. We then present AdS_5 x M_6 solutions of eleven-dimensional supergravity which are dual to these CFTs at large N. Finally, we provide a purely four-dimensional field theory construction which flows to a special class of these fixed points. These theories will be further elaborated upon in a companion p…
A relationship between 4d gauge theory and 2d CFT will be reviewed from the very basics. We will first cover the introductory material on the 2d CFT and on the instantons of 4d gauge theory. Next we will explicitly calculate and check the agreement of the norm of a coherent state on the 2d side and the instanton partition function on the 4d side. We will then see how this agreement can be understood from the perspective of string and M theory.
In this letter, we investigate corrections to quartic gauge couplings in compactifications of string theories on a 2-torus without vector structure. First, we calculate the threshold corrections to F^4 terms in the heterotic CHL string. Then, using the CHL string/type I duality dictionary, we map these corrections to perturbative and non-perturbative effects in type I string compactified on 2-torus without vector structure. Comparing the perturbative terms provides a quantitative test of the S-duality conjecture. The non-perturbative contributions are due to D-strings wrapping the torus. A T-d…
We present a set of functional equations defining the anomalous dimensions of arbitrary local single trace operators in planar N=4 SYM theory. It takes the form of a Y-system based on the integrability of the dual superstring sigma-model on the AdS_5xS^5 background. This Y-system passes some very important tests: it incorporates the full asymptotic Bethe ansatz at large length of operator L, including the dressing factor, and it confirms all recently found wrapping corrections. The recently proposed AdS_4/CFT_3 duality is also treated in a similar fashion.
We study U(1) symmetries dual to Betti multiplets in the AdS_4/CFT_3 correspondence for M2 branes at Calabi-Yau four-fold singularities. Analysis of the boundary conditions for vector fields in AdS_4 allows for a choice where wrapped M5 brane states carrying non-zero charge under such symmetries can be considered. We begin by focusing on isolated toric singularities without vanishing six-cycles, and study in detail the cone over Q^{111}. The boundary conditions considered are dual to a CFT where the gauge group is U(1)^2 x SU(N)^4. We find agreement between the spectrum of gauge-invariant bary…
We perform holographic renormalization for probe branes in AdS_5 x S^5. We show that for four known probe D-branes wrapping an AdS_m x S^n, the counterterms needed to render the action finite are identical to those for the free, massive scalar in AdS_m plus counterterms for the renormalization of the volume of AdS_m. The four cases we consider are the probe D7, two different probe D5's and a probe D3. In the D7 case there are scheme-dependent finite counterterms that can be fixed by supersymmetry.
Despite the rich and fruitful history of the integrability approach to string theory on the $AdS_3\times S^3\times T^4$ background, it has not been possible to extract many concrete predictions from integrability, except in a strict asymptotic regime of large quantum numbers, due to the severity of wrapping effects. The situation changed radically with two independent and identical proposals for the Quantum Spectral Curve (QSC) for this system in a background of pure Ramond-Ramond flux. This formulation is expected to capture all wrapping effects exactly and describe the full planar spectrum. …
Bions are multiple fractional instanton configurations with zero instanton charge playing important roles in quantum field theories on a compactified space with a twisted boundary condition. We classify fractional instantons and bions in the $SU(N)$ principal chiral model on ${\mathbb R}^2 \times S^1$ with twisted boundary conditions. We find that fractional instantons are global vortices wrapping around $S^1$ with their $U(1)$ moduli twisted along $S^1$, that carry $1/N$ instanton (baryon) numbers for the ${\mathbb Z}_N$ symmetric twisted boundary condition and irrational instanton numbers fo…
We review the constructions and tests of the dilatation operator and of the spectrum of composite operators in the flavour SU(2) subsector of N=4 SYM in the planar limit by explicit Feynman graph calculations with emphasis on analyses beyond one loop. From four loops on, the dilatation operator determines the spectrum only in the asymptotic regime, i.e. to a loop order which is strictly smaller than the number of elementary fields of the composite operators. We review also the calculations which take a first step beyond this limitation by including the leading wrapping corrections.
Gieseker-Nakajima moduli spaces $M_{k}(n)$ parametrize the charge $k$ noncommutative $U(n)$ instantons on ${\bf R}^{4}$ and framed rank $n$ torsion free sheaves $\mathcal{E}$ on ${\bf C\bf P}^{2}$ with ${\rm ch}_{2}({\mathcal{E}}) = k$. They also serve as local models of the moduli spaces of instantons on general four-manifolds. We study the generalization of gauge theory in which the four dimensional spacetime is a stratified space $X$ immersed into a Calabi-Yau fourfold $Z$. The local model ${\bf M}_{k}({\vec n})$ of the corresponding instanton moduli space is the moduli space of charge $k$ …
