Long String Scattering in c = 1 String Theory

We study the scattering of long strings in c = 1 string theory, both in the worldsheet description and in the non-singlet sector of the dual matrix quantum mechanics. From the worldsheet perspective, the scattering amplitudes of long strings are obtained from a decoupling limit of open strings amplitudes on FZZT branes, which we compute by integrating Virasoro conformal blocks along with structure constants of boundary Liouville theory. In particular, we study the tree level amplitudes of (1) a long string decaying by emitting a closed string, and (2) the scattering of a pair of long strings. We show that they are indeed well defined as limits of open string amplitudes, and that our results are in striking numerical agreement with computations in the adjoint and bi-adjoint sectors of the dual matrix model (based on proposals of Maldacena and solutions due to Fidkowski), thereby providing strong evidence of the duality.Comment: 42 pages, 18 figure

Anomalies and large N limits in matrix string theory

We study the loop expansion for the low energy effective action for matrix string theory. For long string configurations we find the result depends on the ordering of limits. Taking $g_s\to 0$ before $N\to\infty$ we find free strings. Reversing the order of limits however we find anomalous contributions coming from the large $N$ limit that invalidate the loop expansion. We then embed the classical instanton solution into a long string configuration. We find the instanton has a loop expansion weighted by fractional powers of $N$. Finally we identify the scaling regime for which interacting long string configurations have a well defined large $N$ limit. The limit corresponds to large "classical" strings and can be identified with the "dual of the 't Hooft limit, $g_{SYM}^2\sim N$.Comment: 13 pages, 1 figure, harvmac.tex, notational errors corrected, references added. Trivial error in section 5 corrected with the result that the domain of validity of the loop expn. is slightly modifie

Newtonian Gravitons and D-brane Collective Coordinates in Wound String Theory

Recently it was shown that NCOS theories are part of a ten-dimensional theory known as Non-relativistic Wound string theory. We clarify the sense in which gravity is present in this theory. We show that Wound string theory contains exceptional unwound strings, including a graviton, which mediate the previously discovered instantaneous long-range interactions, but are negligible as asymptotic states. Unwound strings also provide the expected collective coordinates for the transverse D-branes in the theory. These and other results are shown to follow both from a direct analysis of the effect of the NCOS limit on the parent string theory, and from the worldsheet formalism developed by Gomis and Ooguri, about which we make some additional remarks. We also devote some attention to supergravity duals, and in particular show that the open and closed strings of the theory are respectively described by short and long strings on the supergravity side.Comment: LaTeX 2e, 31+1 pages; v2: minor changes, reference added; v3: 2 paragraphs on transverse D-branes added (end of Secs. 3.1 and 5), final version to appear in JHE

On Fine Structure of Strings: The Universal Correction to the Veneziano Amplitude

We consider theories of weakly interacting higher spin particles in flat spacetime. We focus on the four-point scattering amplitude at high energies and imaginary scattering angles. The leading asymptotic of the amplitude in this regime is universal and equal to the corresponding limit of the Veneziano amplitude. In this paper, we find that the first sub-leading correction to this asymptotic is universal as well. We compute the correction using a model of relativistic strings with massive endpoints. We argue that it is unique using holography, effective theory of long strings and bootstrap techniques.Comment: 54 pages, 5 figure

Confinement in the Abelian-Higgs-type theories: string picture and field correlators

Field correlators and the string representation are used as two complementary approaches for the description of confinement in the SU(N)-inspired dual Abelian-Higgs-type model. In the London limit of the simplest, SU(2)-inspired, model, bilocal electric field-strength correlators have been derived with accounting for the contributions to these averages produced by closed dual strings. The Debye screening in the plasma of such strings yields a novel long-range interaction between points lying on the contour of the Wilson loop. This interaction generates a Luescher-type term, even when one restrics oneself to the minimal surface, as it is usually done in the bilocal approximation to the stochastic vacuum model. Beyond the London limit, it has been shown that a modified interaction appears, which becomes reduced to the standard Yukawa one in the London limit. Finally, a string representation of the SU(N)-inspired model with the theta-term, in the London limit, can be constructed.Comment: 17 pages, no figures, REVTeX 4; Invited contribution to the collection of articles devoted to the 70th birthday of Yu.A. Simono

Tensionless Strings from Worldsheet Symmetries

We revisit the construction of the tensionless limit of closed bosonic string theory in the covariant formulation in the light of Galilean conformal symmetry that rises as the residual gauge symmetry on the tensionless worldsheet. We relate the analysis of the fundamentally tensionless theory to the tensionless limit that is viewed as a contraction of worldsheet coordinates. Analysis of the quantum regime uncovers interesting physics. The degrees of freedom that appear in the tensionless string are fundamentally different from the usual string states. Through a Bogoliubov transformation on the worldsheet, we link the tensionless vacuum to the usual tensile vacuum. As an application, we show that our analysis can be used to understand physics of strings at very high temperatures and propose that these new degrees of freedom are naturally connected with the long-string picture of the Hagedorn phase of free string theory. We also show that tensionless closed strings behave like open strings.Comment: 40 pages; v2: references added, minor text edit

Integrable Hamiltonian for Classical Strings on AdS_5 x S^5

We find the Hamiltonian for physical excitations of the classical bosonic string propagating in the AdS_5 x S^5 space-time. The Hamiltonian is obtained in a so-called uniform gauge which is related to the static gauge by a 2d duality transformation. The Hamiltonian is of the Nambu type and depends on two parameters: a single S^5 angular momentum J and the string tension \lambda. In the general case both parameters can be finite. The space of string states consists of short and long strings. In the sector of short strings the large J expansion with \lambda'=\lambda/J^2 fixed recovers the plane-wave Hamiltonian and higher-order corrections recently studied in the literature. In the strong coupling limit \lambda\to \infty, J fixed, the energy of short strings scales as \sqrt[4]{\lambda} while the energy of long strings scales as \sqrt{\lambda}. We further show that the gauge-fixed Hamiltonian is integrable by constructing the corresponding Lax representation. We discuss some general properties of the monodromy matrix, and verify that the asymptotic behavior of the quasi-momentum perfectly agrees with the one obtained earlier for some specific cases.Comment: 30 pages, LaTex; v2: a few comments added, misprints corrected, references adde

Semiclassical relativistic strings in S^5 and long coherent operators in N=4 SYM theory

We consider the low energy effective action corresponding to the 1-loop, planar, dilatation operator in the scalar sector of N=4 SU(N) SYM theory. For a general class of non-holomorphic ``long'' operators, of bare dimension L>>1, it is a sigma model action with 8-dimensional target space and agrees with a limit of the phase-space string sigma model action describing generic fast-moving strings in the S^5 part of AdS_5 x S^5. The limit of the string action is taken in a way that allows for a systematic expansion to higher orders in the effective coupling $\lambda/L^2$. This extends previous work on rigid rotating strings in S^5 (dual to operators in the SU(3) sector of the dilatation operator) to the case when string oscillations or pulsations in S^5 are allowed. We establish a map between the profile of the leading order string solution and the structure of the corresponding coherent, ``locally BPS'', SYM scalar operator. As an application, we explicitly determine the form of the non-holomorphic operators dual to the pulsating strings. Using action--angle variables, we also directly compute the energy of pulsating solutions, simplifying previous treatments.Comment: LaTeX, 50 pages, 1 figure. v2: References added, minor corrections. 54 pages. v3: Few changes. One paragraph added at the end of section 3. 55 page