450 research outputs found
Holographic RG Flows and Universal Structures on the Coulomb Branch of N=2 Supersymmetric Large n Gauge Theory
We report on our results of D3-brane probing a large class of generalised
type IIB supergravity solutions presented very recently in the literature. The
structure of the solutions is controlled by a single non-linear differential
equation. These solutions correspond to renormalisation group flows from pure
N=4 supersymmetric gauge theory to an N=2 gauge theory with a massive adjoint
scalar. The gauge group is SU(n) with n large. After presenting the general
result, we focus on one of the new solutions, solving for the specific
coordinates needed to display the explicit metric on the moduli space. We
obtain an appropriately holomorphic result for the coupling. We look for the
singular locus, and interestingly, the final result again manifests itself in
terms of a square root branch cut on the complex plane, as previously found for
a set of solutions for which the details are very different. This, together
with the existence of the single simple non-linear differential equation, is
further evidence in support of an earlier suggestion that there is a very
simple model --perhaps a matrix model with relation to the Calogero-Moser
integrable system-- underlying this gauge theory physics.Comment: 14 pages, LaTeX, 1 figur
Quark Soup al dente: Applied Superstring Theory
We discuss the application of the AdS/CFT correspondence to possibly gain new
physical insights for the strongly coupled quark-gluon plasma. This article
provides an informal summary of a talk given by RCM at the 18th International
Conference on General Relativity and Gravitation in July 2007.Comment: This article provides an informal summary of a talk given by RCM at
the 18th International Conference on General Relativity and Gravitation in
July 200
Comments on the T-dual of the gravity dual of D5-branes on
We consider an abelian T-duality on a deformation of the gravitational
solution of \cite{Maldacena2001}, which is the gravity dual of D5-branes
wrapping a three-cycle inside a manifold that admits a structure.
Performing the T-duality we find D-branes wrapping a two-cycle with
non-trivial antisymmetric fields in the NS-NS and RR sector. We study some
aspects of its dual field theory and we compare with the original solution.Comment: 26 page
Gravity Dual of a Quantum Hall Plateau Transition
We show how to model the transition between distinct quantum Hall plateaus in
terms of D-branes in string theory. A low energy theory of 2+1 dimensional
fermions is obtained by considering the D3-D7 system, and the plateau
transition corresponds to moving the branes through one another. We study the
transition at strong coupling using gauge/gravity duality and the probe
approximation. Strong coupling leads to a novel kind of plateau transition: at
low temperatures the transition remains discontinuous due to the effects of
dynamical symmetry breaking and mass generation, and at high temperatures is
only partially smoothed out.Comment: 27 pages, 6 figures, harvmac; v2, references and minor comments
added, version to be submitted to JHEP; v3, corrections to section
T-Duality from super Lie n-algebra cocycles for super p-branes
We compute the -theoretic dimensional reduction of the
F1/D-brane super -cocycles with coefficients in rationalized
twisted K-theory from the 10d type IIA and type IIB super Lie algebras down to
9d. We show that the two resulting coefficient -algebras are
naturally related by an -isomorphism which we find to act on the
super -brane cocycles by the infinitesimal version of the rules of
topological T-duality and inducing an isomorphism between and ,
rationally. In particular this is a derivation of the Buscher rules for
RR-fields (Hori's formula) from first principles. Moreover, we show that these
-algebras are the homotopy quotients of the RR-charge coefficients by
the "T-duality Lie 2-algebra". We find that the induced -extension is
a gerby extension of a 9+(1+1) dimensional (i.e. "doubled") T-duality
correspondence super-spacetime, which serves as a local model for T-folds. We
observe that this still extends, via the D0-brane cocycle of its type IIA
factor, to a 10+(1+1)-dimensional super Lie algebra. Finally we observe that
this satisfies expected properties of a local model space for F-theory elliptic
fibrations.Comment: 44 pages; v2: added more discussion of double dimensional reduction
via cyclic L-infinity cohomology; v3: added derivation of Buscher rules for
RR-fields, expanded on role of curved L-infinity algebras in double
dimensional reductio
Memories of a Theoretical Physicist
A groundbreaking theoretical physicist traces his career, reflecting on the successes and failures, triumphs and insecurities of a life cut short by cancer. The groundbreaking theoretical physicist Joseph Polchinski explained the genesis of his memoir this way: “Having only two bodies of knowledge, myself and physics, I decided to write an autobiography about my development as a theoretical physicist.” In this posthumously published account of his life and work, Polchinski (1954–2018) describes successes and failures, triumphs and insecurities, and the sheer persistence that led to his greatest discoveries. Writing engagingly and accessibly, with the wry humor for which he was known, Polchinski gives theoretical physics a very human face. Polchinski, famous for his contributions to string theory, may have changed the course of modern theoretical physics, but he was a late bloomer—doing most of his important work after the age of forty. His death from brain cancer at sixty-three cut short a career at its peak. Working on the memoir after his diagnosis, using a text-to-speech algorithm because he could no longer read words on a page, he was able to recapitulate his entire career, down to the details of problems he had worked on. For Polchinski, physics went deeper than words. This edition includes photographs from Polchinski's professional and family life, as well as physics explainer boxes, other technical edits, and bibliographic notes by his former student Ahmed Almheiri, a foreword by Andrew Strominger, and an afterword by his wife Dorothy Chun and sons Steven and Daniel
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