Giant magnon bound states from strongly coupled N=4 SYM

We calculate in a very simple way the spectrum of giant magnon bound states at strong coupling in N=4 SYM, by utilizing the description of the field theory vacuum in terms of a condensate of eigenvalues of commuting matrices. We further show that these calculations can be understood in terms of the central charge extension that permits the calculation of BPS masses in the Coulomb branch of N=4 SYM. This paper shows further evidence that the strong coupling expansion of the maximally supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory in four dimensions can be done systematically from first principles, without the assumption of integrability.Comment: 19 pages, uses revte

Holography in the Large J Limit of AdS/CFT Correspondence and Its Applications

We give a brief expository discussion on the holographic correspondence of correlation functions in the large J limit of AdS/CFT conjecture. We first review our proposals on the interpretation of the so-called GKPW relation in the large J limit or BMN limit, which are based upon a tunneling picture in relating the AdS bulk to its boundary. Some concrete results, explicitly confirming our picture, are summarized. We then proceed to comment on various issues related to this subject, such as extension of the present picture to nonconformal Dp-brane backgrounds, the correlators of deformed Wilson loops, spinning-string/spin-chain correspondence, and the inclusion of higher string-loop effects. In particular, as for the deformation of Wilson loops, we present a typical tunneling world-sheet solution which can be used for direct derivation of the expectation values of deformed Wilson loops following our picture.Comment: 21 pages, written version of a talk given at the symposium "Frontiers of Quantum Science", YITP, Kyoto, Feb. 2005, corrected typos and some minor revisions of tex

Strings on conifolds from strong coupling dynamics, part I

A method to solve various aspects of the strong coupling expansion of the superconformal field theory duals of AdS_5 x X geometries from first principles is proposed. The main idea is that at strong coupling the configurations that dominate the low energy dynamics of the field theory compactified on a three sphere are given by certain non-trivial semi-classical configurations in the moduli space of vacua. We show that this approach is self-consistent and permits one to express most of the dynamics in terms of an effective N=4 SYM dynamics. This has the advantage that some degrees of freedom that move the configurations away from moduli space can be treated perturbatively, unifying the essential low energy dynamics of all of these theories. We show that with this formalism one can compute the energies of strings in the BMN limit in the Klebanov-Witten theory from field theory considerations, matching the functional form of results found using AdS geometry. This paper also presents various other technical results for the semiclassical treatment of superconformal field theories.Comment: 52 pages, JHEP3 styl

Supergravity, AdS/CFT Correspondence and Matrix Models

The recent developments towards the possible non-perturbative formulation of string/M theory using supersymmetric Yang-Mills matrix models (SYMs) are discussed. In the first part, we give a critical review on the status of our present understanding, focusing on the connection of the D0-brane matrix models to supergravity and its relevance to the so-called Matrix-theory conjecture. We also discuss some problems concerning the conjectured relation between supergravity in AdS background and SYM from the viewpoint of D-brane interactions. We present a qualitative argument showing how the boundary condition at AdS boundary dictates the correlators on the large N system of source D-branes. Then, in the final part, we turn to the question how to formulate the condensation of graviton in matrix models, taking the simplest example of type IIB matrix model. We argue the emergence of a hidden symmetry GL(10, R), beyond the manifest Lorentz symmetry SO(9,1), by embedding U(N) model into models with higher N and by treating the whole recursive series of models simultaneously. This suggests a possible approach toward background independent formulations of matrix models.Comment: Expanded and combined version of two talks given at Nishinomiya-Yukawa Symposium, Nov., 1998 and YITP workshop, Nov., 1998, 23 pages, no figures (revision: sentences and references are added to clarify the relation between the space-time uncertainty relation and holography

The correspondence principle in quantum field theory and quantum gravity

We discuss the fate of the correspondence principle beyond quantum mechanics, specifically in quantum field theory and quantum gravity, in connection with the intrinsic limitations of the human ability to observe the external world. We conclude that the best correspondence principle is made of unitarity, locality, proper renormalizability (a refinement of strict renormalizability), combined with fundamental local symmetries and the requirement of having a finite number of fields. Quantum gravity is identified in an essentially unique way. The gauge interactions are uniquely identified in form. Instead, the matter sector remains basically unrestricted. The major prediction is the violation of causality at small distances

On Higher Order Gravities, Their Analogy to GR, and Dimensional Dependent Version of Duff's Trace Anomaly Relation

An almost brief, though lengthy, review introduction about the long history of higher order gravities and their applications, as employed in the literature, is provided. We review the analogous procedure between higher order gravities and GR, as described in our previous works, in order to highlight its important achievements. Amongst which are presentation of an easy classification of higher order Lagrangians and its employment as a \emph{criteria} in order to distinguish correct metric theories of gravity. For example, it does not permit the inclusion of only one of the second order Lagrangians in \emph{isolation}. But, it does allow the inclusion of the cosmological term. We also discuss on the compatibility of our procedure and the Mach idea. We derive a dimensional dependent version of Duff's trace anomaly relation, which in \emph{four}-dimension is the same as the usual Duff relation. The Lanczos Lagrangian satisfies this new constraint in \emph{any} dimension. The square of the Weyl tensor identically satisfies it independent of dimension, however, this Lagrangian satisfies the previous relation only in three and four dimensions.Comment: 30 pages, added reference