Dual String Theory Research Articles

O(d,d)-duality in string theory

A new method for obtaining dual string theory backgrounds is presented. Preservation of the Hamiltonian density and the energy momentum tensor induced by O(d,d)-transformations leads to a relation between dual sets of coordinate one-forms accompanied by a redefinition of the background fields and a shift of the dilaton. The necessity of isometric directions arises as integrability condition for this map. The isometry algebra is studied in detail using generalised geometry. In particular, non-abelian dualities and beta-transformations are contained in this approach. The latter are exemplified by the construction of a new approximate non-geometric background.

Three-point functions in the SU(2) sector at strong coupling

Extending the methods developed in our previous works (arXiv:1110.3949, arXiv:1205.6060), we compute the three-point functions at strong coupling of the non-BPS states with large quantum numbers corresponding to the composite operators belonging to the so-called SU(2) sector in the $\mathcal{N}=4$ super-Yang-Mills theory in four dimensions. This is achieved by the semi-classical evaluation of the three-point functions in the dual string theory in the $AdS_3 \times S^3$ spacetime, using the general one-cut finite gap solutions as the external states. In spite of the complexity of the contributions from various parts in the intermediate stages, the final answer for the three-point function takes a remarkably simple form, exhibiting the structure reminiscent of the one obtained at weak coupling. In particular, in the Frolov-Tseytlin limit the result is expressed in terms of markedly similar integrals, however with different contours of integration. We discuss a natural mechanism for introducing additional singularities on the worldsheet without affecting the infinite number of conserved charges, which can modify the contours of integration.

Modular localization and the holistic structure of causal quantum theory, a historical perspective

dx.doi.org/10.7437/NF2318-4957/2014.01.002 Abstract Recent insights into the conceptual structure of in QFT (modular localization) led to clarications of old unsolved problems.The oldest one is the Einstein-Jordan conundrum which led Jordan in1925 to the discovery of quantum eld theory. This comparison of fluctuations in subsystems of heat bath systems (Einstein) with those resulting from the restriction of the QFT vacuum state to an open subvolume (Jordan) leads to a perfect analogy; the globally pure vacuum state becomes upon local restriction a strongly impure KMS state. This phenomenon of localization-caused thermal behavior as well as the vacuum-polarization clouds at the causal boundary of the region places localization n QFT into a sharp contrast with quantum mechanics and justies the attribute holstic. In fact it positions the E-J Gedankenexperiment into the same conceptual category as the cosmological constant problem and the Unruh Gedankenexperiment. The holistic structure of QFT resulting from modular localization also leads to a revision of the conceptual origin of the crucial crossing property which entered particle theory at the time of the bootstrap S-matrix approach but suered from incorrect use in the S-matrix settings of the dual model and string theory. The new holistic point of view, which strengthens the autonomous aspect of QFT, also comes with new messages for gauge theory by exposing the clash between Hilbert space structure and and presenting alternative solutions based on the use of stringlocal elds in Hilbert space. Among other things this leads to a radical reformulation of the Englert- Higgs symmetry breaking mechanism.

Holographic Entanglement Entropy, Fractional Quantum Hall Effect and Lifshitz-like Fixed Point

The entanglement entropy has been very important in various subjects such as quantum information theory, condensed matter physics, and quantum gravity. In the first half of this talk, I will give an overview of recent progresses in the holographic calculation of entanglement entropy. Next, I will apply it to string theory duals of anisotropic scale invariant theories (Lifshitz-like points), which are obtained from a string theory realization of fractional quantum Hall effect.

S-duality improved superstring perturbation theory

Strong - weak coupling duality in string theory allows us to compute physical quantities both at the weak coupling end and at the strong coupling end. Furthermore perturbative string theory can be used to compute corrections to the leading order formula at both ends. We explore the possibility of constructing a smooth interpolating formula that agrees with the perturbation expansion at both ends and leads to a fairly accurate determination of the quantity in consideration over the entire range of the coupling constant. We apply this to study the mass of the stable non-BPS state in SO(32) heterotic / type I string theory with encouraging results. In particular our result suggests that after taking into account one loop corrections to the mass in the heterotic and type I string theory, the interpolating function determines the mass within 10% accuracy over the entire range of coupling constant.

On a discrete symmetry of the Bremsstrahlung function in $ \mathcal{N} $ = 4 SYM

We consider the quark anti-quark potential on the three sphere in planar N = 4 SYM and the associated vacuum potential in the near BPS limit with L units of R-charge. The associated Bremsstrahlung function BL has been recently computed analytically by means of the Thermodynamical Bethe Ansatz. We discuss it at strong coupling by computing it at large but nite L. We provide strong support to a special symmetry of the Bremsstrahlung function under the formal discrete Z2 symmetry L ! 1 L. In this context, it is the counterpart of the reciprocity invariance discovered in the past in the spectrum of various gauge invariant composite operators. The Z2 symmetry has remarkable consequences in the scaling limit where L is taken to be large with xed ratio to the 't Hooft coupling. This limit organizes in inverse powers of the coupling and resembles the semiclassical expansion of the dual string theory which is indeed known to capture the leading classical term. We show that the various higher-order contributions to the Bremsstrahlung function obey several constraints and, in particular, the next-to-leading term, formally associated with the string one-loop correction, is completely determined by the classical contribution. The large L limit at strong coupling is also discussed.

LargeNclassical dynamics of holographic matrix models

Using a numerical simulation of the classical dynamics of the plane-wave and flat space matrix models of M-theory, we study the thermalization, equilibrium thermodynamics and fluctuations of these models as we vary the temperature and the size of the matrices, N. We present our numerical implementation in detail and several checks of its precision and consistency. We show evidence for thermalization by matching the time-averaged distributions of the matrix eigenvalues to the distributions of the appropriate Traceless Gaussian Unitary Ensemble of random matrices. We study the autocorrelations and power spectra for various fluctuating observables and observe evidence of the expected chaotic dynamics as well as a hydrodynamic type limit at large N, including near-equilibrium dissipation processes. These configurations are holographically dual to black holes in the dual string theory or M-theory and we discuss how our results could be related to the corresponding supergravity black hole solutions.

String theory duals of Lifshitz–Chern–Simons gauge theories

We propose candidate gravity duals for a class of non-Abelian z = 2 Lifshitz Chern–Simons (LCS) gauge theories studied by Mulligan, Kachru and Nayak. These are nonrelativistic gauge theories in 2+1 dimensions in which parity and time-reversal symmetries are explicitly broken by the presence of a Chern–Simons term. We show that these field theories can be realized as deformations of DLCQ super Yang–Mills theory. Using the holographic dictionary, we identify the bulk fields of type IIB supergravity that are dual to these deformations. The geometries describing the groundstates of the non-Abelian LCS gauge theories realized here exhibit a mass gap.

Lüscher formula for GKP string

We investigate finite-size corrections to anomalous dimensions of large-spin twist-two operators in the planar maximally supersymmetric Yang–Mills theory. We develop a framework for analysis of these corrections, that is complementary to the conventional spin-chain approach, by making use of the hole rather than the magnon picture. From the dual string theory perspective where the large-spin operator is identified with the Gubser–Klebanov–Polyakov (GKP) string, our approach is equivalent to constructing the first Lüscher correction to the energy of the GKP string by incorporating the contribution of virtual excitations propagating on it. It allows us to propose a formula that controls a particular class of large-spin corrections to the twist-two anomalous dimension and holds at any value of the coupling constant. Compared to wrapping corrections computed with magnons propagating on the spin chain, the finite-size corrections that are encoded in our formalism start at a lower-loop level. Our formalism thus calls for modification of the asymptotic contributions which are conventionally incorporated within the Asymptotic Bethe Ansatz. An educated guess allows us to remedy this pitfall and successfully confront our predictions with known results up to five-loop accuracy at weak coupling. Finally, our formula sheds light on the weak-to-strong coupling transition for the subleading large-spin corrections under study and confirms stringy expectations at strong coupling where they are found to be identical to the first Lüscher correction to the vacuum energy of the O(6) sigma model.

Realism, underdetermination and string theory dualities

String theory promises to be able to provide us with a working theory of quantum gravity and a unified description of all fundamental forces. In string theory there are so called ‘dualities’; i.e. different theoretical formulations that are physically equivalent. In this article these dualities are investigated from a philosophical point of view. Semantic and epistemic questions relating to the problem of underdetermination of theories by data and the debate on realism concerning scientific theories are discussed. Depending on ones views on semantic issues and realism different interpretations are possible of the dualities.

Wilson loops in N = 2 super-Yang-Mills from matrix model

We compute the expectation value of the circular Wilson loop in $ \mathcal{N} = 2 $ supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory with N f = 2N hypermultiplets. Our results indicate that the string tension in the dual string theory scales as the logarithm of the ’t Hooft coupling.

State Operator Correspondence and Entanglement in AdS2/CFT1

Since Euclidean global AdS2 space represented as a strip has two boundaries, the state-operator correspondence in the dual CFT1 reduces to the standard map from the operators acting on a single copy of the Hilbert space to states in the tensor product of two copies of the Hilbert space. Using this picture we argue that the corresponding states in the dual string theory living on AdS2 × K are described by the twisted version of the Hartle–Hawking states, the twists being generated by a large unitary group of symmetries that this string theory must possess. This formalism makes natural the dual interpretation of the black hole entropy—as the logarithm of the degeneracy of ground states of the quantum mechanics describing the low energy dynamics of the black hole, and also as an entanglement entropy between the two copies of the same quantum theory living on the two boundaries of global AdS2 separated by the event horizon.

Review of AdS/CFT Integrability, Chapter VI.1: Superconformal Symmetry

Aspects of the D=4, N=4 superconformal symmetry relevant to the AdS/CFT duality and integrability are reviewed. These include the Lie superalgebra psu(2,2|4), its representations, conformal transformations and correlation functions in N=4 super Yang-Mills theory as well as an illustration of the AdS5xS5 superspace on which the dual string theory is formulated.

Aspects of the UV/IR correspondence: energy broadening and string fluctuations

We show that a source which radiates in the vacuum of the strongly coupled N=4 SYM theory produces an energy distribution which, in the supergravity approximation, has the same space-time pattern as the corresponding classical distribution: the radiation propagates at the speed of light without broadening. We illustrate this on the basis of several examples: a small perturbation propagating down a steady string, a massless particle falling into AdS_5, and the decay of a time-like wave-packet. A similar observation was made in Phys. Rev. D81 (2010) 126001 for the case of a rotating string. In all these cases, the absence of broadening is related to the fact that the energy backreaction on the boundary arises exclusively from the bulk perturbation at, or near, the boundary. This is so since bulk sources which propagate in AdS_5 at the speed of light do not generate any energy on the boundary. We interpret these features as an artifact of the supergravity approximation, which fails to encode quantum mechanical fluctuations that should be present even in the strong coupling limit. We argue that such fluctuations should enter the dual string theory as longitudinal string fluctuations, which are not suppressed at strong coupling. We heuristically estimate the effects of such fluctuations and argue that they restore the broadening of the radiation, in agreement with expectations from both quantum mechanics and the ultraviolet/infrared correspondence.

On the spectral problem of $ \mathcal{N} = 4 $ SYM with orthogonal or symplectic gauge group

We study the spectral problem of N=4 SYM with gauge group SO(N) and Sp(N). At the planar level, the difference to the case of gauge group SU(N) is only due to certain states being projected out, however at the non-planar level novel effects appear: While 1/N-corrections in the SU(N) case are always associated with splitting and joining of spin chains, this is not so for SO(N) and Sp(N). Here the leading 1/N-corrections, which are due to non-orientable Feynman diagrams in the field theory, originate from a term in the dilatation operator which acts inside a single spin chain. This makes it possible to test for integrability of the leading 1/N-corrections by standard (Bethe ansatz) means and we carry out various such tests. For orthogonal and symplectic gauge group the dual string theory lives on the orientifold AdS5xRP5. We discuss various issues related to semi-classical strings on this background.

Notes on supersymmetric Wilson loops on a two-sphere

We study a recently discovered family of 1/8-BPS supersymmetric Wilson loops in $ \mathcal{N} = 4 $ super Yang-Mills theory and their string theory duals. The operators are defined for arbitrary contours on a two-sphere in space-time, and they were conjectured to be captured perturbatively by 2d bosonic Yang-Mills theory. In the AdS dual, they are described by pseudo-holomorphic string surfaces living on a certain submanifold of AdS 5 × S 5. We show that the regularized area of these string surfaces is invariant under area preserving diffeomorphisms of the boundary loop, in agreement with the conjecture. Further, we find a connection between the pseudo-holomorphicity equations and an auxiliary σ-model on S 3, which may help to construct new 1/8-BPS string solutions. We also show that the conjectured relation to 2d Yang-Mills implies that a connected correlator of two Wilson loops is computed by a Hermitian Gaussian two-matrix model. On the AdS dual side, we argue that the connected correlator is described by two disconnected disks interacting through the exchange of supergravity modes, and we show that this agrees with the strong coupling planar limit of the two-matrix model.

String theory dualities and supergravity divergences

We demonstrate how duality invariance of the low energy expansion of the four-graviton amplitude in type II string theory determines the precise coefficients of multiloop logarithmic ultraviolet divergences of maximal supergravity in various dimensions. This is illustrated by the explicit moduli-dependence of terms of the form D^{2k}R^4, with k<= 3, in the effective action. Furthermore, we show that in the supergravity limit the perturbative contributions are swamped by an accumulation of non-perturbative effects of zero-action instantons.

Strings on bubbling geometries

We study gauge theory operators which take the form of a product of a trace with a Schur polynomial, and their string theory duals. These states represent strings excited on bubbling AdS geometries which are dual to the Schur polynomials. These geometries generically take the form of multiple annuli in the phase space plane. We study the coherent state wavefunction of the lattice, which labels the trace part of the operator, for a general Young tableau and their dual description on the droplet plane with a general concentric ring pattern. In addition we identify a density matrix over the coherent states on all the geometries within a fixed constraint. This density matrix may be used to calculate the entropy of a given ensemble of operators. We finally recover the BMN string spectrum along the geodesic near any circle from the ansatz of the coherent state wavefunction.

Holomorphic Factorization for a Quantum Tetrahedron

We provide a holomorphic description of the Hilbert space H(j_1,..,j_n) of SU(2)-invariant tensors (intertwiners) and establish a holomorphically factorized formula for the decomposition of identity in H(j_1,..,j_n). Interestingly, the integration kernel that appears in the decomposition formula turns out to be the n-point function of bulk/boundary dualities of string theory. Our results provide a new interpretation for this quantity as being, in the limit of large conformal dimensions, the exponential of the Kahler potential of the symplectic manifold whose quantization gives H(j_1,..,j_n). For the case n=4, the symplectic manifold in question has the interpretation of the space of "shapes" of a geometric tetrahedron with fixed face areas, and our results provide a description for the quantum tetrahedron in terms of holomorphic coherent states. We describe how the holomorphic intertwiners are related to the usual real ones by computing their overlap. The semi-classical analysis of these overlap coefficients in the case of large spins allows us to obtain an explicit relation between the real and holomorphic description of the space of shapes of the tetrahedron. Our results are of direct relevance for the subjects of loop quantum gravity and spin foams, but also add an interesting new twist to the story of the bulk/boundary correspondence.

Branes and instantons intersecting at angles

We study in detail the system of D6 branes and euclidean D2-brane instantons intersecting at angles in type IIA string theory. We find that in the absence of orientifolds the system does not contribute to the low energy superpotential, in agreement with expectations based on effective field theory arguments. We also comment on the implications of our results for dual string theory pictures.