On novel string theories from 4d gauge theories

We investigate strings theories as defined from four dimensional gauge theories. It is argued that novel (super)string theories exist up to 26 dimensions. Some of them may support weakly curved geometries.Comment: LateX, 17 pages. (v2) Removed showkeys command and added references (v3) Added new references and updated the discussion on space-time dependent couplings (v4) Added reference

Dissecting the string theory dual of QCD

Input from QCD and string theory is used in order to elucidate basic features of the string theory dual of QCD, It is argued that the relevant string theory is a five-dimensional version of the type-0 superstring. The vacuum solution is asymptotically AdS$_5$, and the geometry near the boundary is stringy. The structure of YM perturbation theory however emerges near the boundary. In the IR, the theory is argued to be well-approximated by a two-derivative truncation that takes into account strong coupling effects. This explains the success of previously proposed five-dimensional Eistein-dilaton gravity with an appropriate potential to describe salient features of the strong YM dynamics.Comment: LateX 33 pages, no figures. Based on presentations at various meertings. To appear in the proceedings of the 4th RTN-EU conference, Varna, Bulgaria (v2) Various misprints corrected. Added discussion on the definition of the 't Hooft coupling and issues of scheme dependenc

Gravity and axions from a random UV QFT

It is postulated that the UV QFT is enormous and random. The coupling of the Standard Model to such QFT is analyzed. It is argued that massless 4d gravity and axions are general avatars of the postulate. The equivalence principle emerges naturally as well as a concrete set of sources for its breaking. The axion scale is related to the 4d Planck scale as $f=M_P/N$, where $N$ is the "number of colors" of the (almost) hidden UV CFT.Comment: Latex, 39 page

Introduction to Non-perturbative String Theory

These are a set of lectures presented at the CERN-La Plata-Santiago de Compostella School of Physics, La Plata, May 1997. A brief introduction to the non-perturbative structure of string theory is presented. Various non-perturbative dualities in ten and six dimensions as well as D-branes are discussed.Comment: 60 pages, LaTeX, 4 eps figures include

Holographic RG flows and nearly-marginal operators

The holographic renormalization group flows associated with marginally relevant operators are analyzed. The associated perturbative and non-perturbative beta-functions are calculated and the consistent scalar potentials are identified. The presence of a Zamolodchikov metric in the multiscalar case is shown to affect beta-functions starting at two loops.Comment: Latex, 23 pages. Minor corrections. Version to be published in Classical and Quantum Gravit

Large-N limits of 2d CFTs, Quivers and AdS_3 duals

We explore the large-N limits of 2d CFTs, focusing mostly on WZW models and their cosets. The $SU(N)_k$ theory is parametrized in this limit by a 't Hooft-like coupling. We show a duality between strong coupling, where the theory is described by almost free fermions, and weak coupling where the theory is described by bosonic fields by an analysis of spectra and correlators. The AdS$_3$ dual is described, and several quantitative checks are performed. Besides the more standard states that should correspond to bulk black holes we find ground states with large degeneracy that can dominate the standard Cardy entropy at weak coupling and are expected to correspond to regular horizonless semiclassical bulk solutions.Comment: latex, 54pages; v2 minor changes, addition of a new appendix on YM-CS theories on AdS3, version published in JHEP; v3 several misprints have been corrected in the formulae of section

On Holographic Insulators and Supersolids

We obtain holographic realizations for systems that have strong similarities to Mott insulators and supersolids, after examining the ground states of Einstein-Maxwell-scalar systems. The real part of the AC conductivity has a hard gap and a discrete spectrum only. We add momentum dissipation to resolve the delta function in the conductivity due to translational invariance. We develop tools to directly calculate the Drude weight for a large class of solutions and to support our claims. Numerical RG flows are also constructed to verify that such saddle points are IR fixed points of asymptotically AdS_4 geometries.Comment: 52 pages, jheppub, 15 figures; v2: minor corrections, references adde

Mini-Black-Hole production at RHIC and LHC

We argue that heavy-ion collisions provide the best testing ground for mini-black hole physics as $M_P\simeq 4 GeV$ for the gravity dual of YM and give concrete evidence for a new extra dimension, that is visible only to the strong interactions. We analyse the process of production evolution and decay of the mini-black-holes by using recent results on gravity duals of YM. There are several novelties compared with the traditional story of black hole evaporation, including Bjorken scaling instead of sphericity, evaporation via bubble nucleation instead of the Hawking mechanism and lepton-poor final states. Multiplicities are estimated using shock-wave scattering techniques. It is argued that high-multiplicity/high energy pp collisions will also show similar characteristics of mini-black-hole production and decay.Comment: Latex, 10 pages, 2 figure

(Multi)Matrix Models and Interacting Clones of Liouville Gravity

Large-N matrix models coupled via multitrace operators are used to define, via appropriate double-scaling limits, solvable models of interacting multi-string theories. It is shown that although such theories are non-local at the world-sheet level they have a simple description of the spacetime physics. Such theories share the main characteristics of similarly coupled higher-dimensional CFTs. An interpretation has been given in the past of similar continuum limits in terms of Liouville interactions that violate the Seiberg bound. We provide a novel interpretation of this relation which agrees with the current understanding of Liouville theory and analogous observations in the AdS/CFT correspondence.Comment: 45 pages, 4 figures; v2 references added, version to appear in JHE

Instabilities in Strong Magnetic Fields in String Theory

We construct groundstates of the string with non-zero mass gap and non-trivial chromo-magnetic fields as well as curvature. The exact spectrum as function of the chromo-magnetic fields and curvature is derived. We examine the behavior of the spectrum, and find that there is a maximal value for the magnetic field $H_{\rm max}\sim M_{\rm Plank}^2$. At this value all states that couple to the magnetic field become infinitely massive and decouple. We also find tachyonic instabilities for strong background fields of the order ${\cal O}(\mu M_{\rm Plank})$ where $\mu$ is the mass gap of the theory. Unlike the field theory case, we find that such ground states become stable again for magnetic fields of the order ${\cal O}(M^2_{\rm Plank})$. The implications of these results are discussed.Comment: To appear in the proceedings of the Conference on Gauge Theories, Applied Supersymmetry and Quantum Gravity, Leuven, July 199