N=2 supergravity in three dimensions and its Godel supersymmetric background

The four dimensional Godel spacetime is known to have the structure M_3 x R. It is also known that the three-dimensional factor M_3 is an exact solution of three-dimensional gravity coupled to a Maxwell-Chern-Simons theory. We build in this paper a N=2 supergravity extension for this action and prove that the Godel background preserves half of all supersymmetries

One-loop Effective Action of the Holographic Antisymmetric Wilson Loop

We systematically study the spectrum of excitations and the one-loop determinant of holographic Wilson loop operators in antisymmetric representations of $\mathcal{N}=4$ supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory. Holographically, these operators are described by D5-branes carrying electric flux and wrapping an $S^4 \subset S^5$ in the $AdS_5\times S^5$ bulk background. We derive the dynamics of both bosonic and fermionic excitations for such D5-branes. A particularly important configuration in this class is the D5-brane with $AdS_2\times S^4$ worldvolume and $k$ units of electric flux, which is dual to the circular Wilson loop in the totally antisymmetric representation of rank $k$. For this Wilson loop, we obtain the spectrum, show explicitly that it is supersymmetric and calculate the one-loop effective action using heat kernel techniques.Comment: 42 pages, one tabl

One-loop Structure of Higher Rank Wilson Loops in AdS/CFT

The half-supersymmetric Wilson loop in $\mathcal N=4$ SYM is arguably the central non-local operator in the AdS/CFT correspondence. On the field theory side, the vacuum expectation values of Wilson loops in arbitrary representations of $SU(N)$ are captured to all orders in perturbation theory by a Gaussian matrix model. Of prominent interest are the $k$-symmetric and $k$-antisymmetric representations, whose gravitational description is given in terms of D3- and D5-branes, respectively, with fluxes in their world volumes. At leading order in $N$ and $\lambda$ the agreement in both cases is exact. In this note we explore the structure of the next-to-leading order correction in the matrix model and compare with existing string theory calculations. We find agreement in the functional dependence on $k$ but a mismatch in the numerical coefficients.Comment: 5 pages, one figure. v2: A crucial minus sign acknowledged; agreement now claimed only at the functional level. Changes in abstract and tex

Note on generating functions and connected correlators of 1/2-BPS Wilson loops in N=4\mathcal{N}=4 SYM theory

The generating functions for the Wilson loops in the symmetric and antisymmetric representations of the gauge group $U(N)$ are expressed in terms of the connected correlators of multiply-wound Wilson loops, using ingredients from the representation theory of the symmetric group. This provides a proof of a recent observation by Okuyama. As a by-product, we present a new calculation of the connected 2-point correlator of multiply-wound Wilson loops at leading order in $1/N$.Comment: 16 pages, v2: references added, changes in intro and conclusions, corrected typo

Interpolating Boundary Conditions on AdS2AdS_2

We consider two instances of boundary conditions for massless scalars on $AdS_2$ that interpolate between the Dirichlet and Neumann cases while preserving scale invariance. Assessing invariance under the full SL(2;\mathds{R}) conformal group is not immediate given their non-local nature. To further clarify this issue, we compute holographically 2- and 4-point correlation functions using the aforementioned boundary conditions and study their transformation properties. Concretely, motivated by the dual description of some multi-parametric families of Wilson loops in ABJM theory, we look at the excitations of an open string around an $AdS_2\subset AdS_4\times\mathbb{CP}^3$ worldsheet, thus obtaining correlators of operators inserted along a $1$-dimensional defect in ${\cal N}=6$ super Chern-Simons-matter theory at strong coupling. Of the two types of boundary conditions analyzed, only one leads to the expected functional structure for conformal primaries; the other exhibits covariance under translations and rescalings but not under special conformal transformations

Beyond AdS2_2/dCFT1_1: Insertions in Two Wilson Loops

We consider two-point correlators of local operator insertions in a system of two Wilson-Maldacena loops in ${\cal N}=4$ supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory on both sides of the AdS/CFT correspondence. On the holographic side the correlator of two Wilson-Maldacena loops is given by a classical string world-sheet which in one phase connects two asymptotically AdS$_2$ regions and in the other phase is given by two disconnected AdS$_2$ caps; this configuration breaks supersymmetry as well as conformal invariance. We present a complete systematic account of the string world-sheet fluctuations, including the fermionic sector, and study the behavior of the holographic two-point correlators. On the field theory side we compute certain two-point correlators of local operator insertions by resumming sets of ladder diagrams. Our results demonstrate the efficacy of previously developed methods in tackling this non-conformal, non-susy regime

One-loop Holography with Strings in AdS4×CP3AdS_4\times\mathbb {CP}^3

We compute the one-loop effective action of string configurations embedded in $AdS_4\times\mathbb{CP}^3$ which are dual to $\frac{1}{6}$-BPS latitude Wilson Loops in the ABJM theory. To avoid ambiguities in the string path integral we subtract the $\frac{1}{2}$-BPS case. The one-loop determinants are computed by Fourier-decomposing the two dimensional operators and then using the Gel'fand-Yaglom method. We comment on various aspects related to the regularization procedure, showing the cancellation of a hierarchy of divergences. After taking into account an IR anomaly from a change in topology, we find a precise agreement with the field theory result known from supersymmetric localization.Comment: 14 pages; v2: references added, comment about boundary conditions adde

Toward precision holography with supersymmetric Wilson loops

We consider certain 1/4 BPS Wilson loop operators in SU(N) N = 4 supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory, whose expectation value can be computed exactly via supersymmetric localization. Holographically, these operators are mapped to fundamental strings in AdS5 ×S5. The string on-shell action reproduces the large N and large coupling limit of the gauge theory expectation value and, according to the AdS/CFT correspondence, there should also be a precise match between subleading corrections to these limits. We perform a test of such match at next-to-leading order in string theory, by deriving the spectrum of quantum fluctuations around the classical string solution and by computing the corresponding 1-loop effective action. We discuss in detail the supermultiplet structure of the fluctuations. To remove a possible source of ambiguity in the ghost zero mode measure, we compare the 1/4 BPS configuration with the 1/2 BPS one, dual to a circular Wilson loop. We find a discrepancy between the string theory result and the gauge theory prediction, confirming a previous result in the literature. We are able to track the modes from which this discrepancy originates, as well as the modes that by themselves would give the expected result.Instituto de Física La Plat