The Resurgence of the Cusp Anomalous Dimension

This work addresses the resurgent properties of the cusp anomalous dimension's strong coupling expansion, obtained from the integral Beisert-Eden-Staudacher (BES) equation. This expansion is factorially divergent, and its first nonperturbative corrections are related to the mass gap of the $O(6)$ $\sigma$-model. The factorial divergence can also be analysed from a resurgence perspective. Building on the work of Basso and Korchemsky, a transseries ansatz for the cusp anomalous dimension is proposed and the corresponding expected large-order behaviour studied. One finds non-perturbative phenomena in both the positive and negative real coupling directions, which need to be included to address the analyticity conditions coming from the BES equation. After checking the resurgence structure of the proposed transseries, it is shown that it naturally leads to an unambiguous resummation procedure, furthermore allowing for a strong/weak coupling interpolation.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figure

Nonperturbative Ambiguities and the Reality of Resurgent Transseries

In a wide range of quantum theoretical settings -- from quantum mechanics to quantum field theory, from gauge theory to string theory -- singularities in the complex Borel plane, usually associated to instantons or renormalons, render perturbation theory ill-defined as they give rise to nonperturbative ambiguities. These ambiguities are associated to choices of an integration contour in the resummation of perturbation theory, along (singular) Stokes directions in the complex Borel plane (rendering perturbative expansions non-Borel summable along any Stokes line). More recently, it has been shown that the proper framework to address these issues is that of resurgent analysis and transseries. In this context, the cancelation of all nonperturbative ambiguities is shown to be a consequence of choosing the transseries median resummation as the appropriate family of unambiguous real solutions along the coupling-constant real axis. While the median resummation is easily implemented for one-parameter transseries, once one considers more general multi-parameter transseries the procedure becomes highly dependent upon properly understanding Stokes transitions in the complex Borel plane. In particular, all Stokes coefficients must now be known in order to explicitly implement multi-parameter median resummations. In the cases where quantum-theoretical physical observables are described by resurgent functions and transseries, the methods described herein show how one may cancel nonperturbative ambiguities, and define these observables nonperturbatively starting out from perturbation theory. Along the way, structural results concerning resurgent transseries are also obtained.Comment: 62 pages, 4 figures; v2: corrected typos, added small discussion on topological sectors, two new figure

Notes on Collective Field Theory of Matrix and Spin Calogero Models

Matrix models and related Spin-Calogero-Sutherland models are of major relevance in a variety of subjects, ranging from condensed matter physics to QCD and low dimensional string theory. They are characterized by integrability and exact solvability. Their continuum, field theoretic representations are likewise of definite interest. In this paper we describe various continuum, field theoretic representations of these models based on bosonization and collective field theory techniques. We compare various known representations and describe some nontrivial applications.Comment: 36 pages, no figures v2: references added, a version to appear in the special issue of JPhysA (edited by G Dunne, J Feinberg and P Dorey) v3:comments changed, paper identical to v

Massless L\"uscher Terms and the Limitations of the AdS3 Asymptotic Bethe Ansatz

In AdS5/CFT4 integrability the Bethe ansatz gives the spectrum of long strings, accurate up to exponentially small corrections. This is no longer true in AdS3, as we demonstrate here by studying Luscher F-terms with a massless particle running in the loop. We apply this to the classic test of Hernandez & Lopez, in which the su(2) sector Bethe equations (including one-loop dressing phase) should match the semiclassical string theory result for a circular spinning string. These calculations did not agree in AdS3xS3xT4, and we show that the sum of all massless Luscher F-terms can reproduce the difference.Comment: 15 pages, 1 figure; v2:references, typos and clarification

An improved AFS phase for AdS3 string integrability

We propose a number of modifications to the classical term in the dressing phase for integrable strings in AdS3 x S3 x S3 x S1, and check these against existing perturbative calculations, crossing symmetry, and the semiclassical limit of the Bethe equations. The principal change is that the phase for different masses should start with a term Q_1 Q_2, like the one-loop AdS3 dressing phase, rather than Q_2 Q_3 as for the original AdS5 AFS phase.Comment: 7 page

The Resurgence of Instantons in String Theory

Nonperturbative effects in string theory are usually associated to D-branes. In many cases it can be explicitly shown that D-brane instantons control the large-order behavior of string perturbation theory, leading to the well-known (2g)! growth of the genus expansion. This paper presents a detailed treatment of nonperturbative solutions in string theory, and their relation to the large-order behavior of perturbation theory, making use of transseries and resurgent analysis. These are powerful techniques addressing general nonperturbative contributions within non-linear systems, which are developed at length herein as they apply to string theory. The cases of topological strings, the Painleve I equation describing 2d quantum gravity, and the quartic matrix model, are explicitly addressed. These results generalize to minimal strings and general matrix models. It is shown that, in order to completely understand string theory at a fully nonperturbative level, new sectors are required beyond the standard D-brane sector.Comment: 108 pages; v2,v3: references added; v4: improved pedagogical content, final version for CNTP; v5: typos correcte

Quantum Strings and the AdS4/CFT3 Interpolating Function

The existence of a nontrivial interpolating function h(\lambda) is one of the novel features of the new AdS4/CFT3 correspondence involving ABJM theory. At strong coupling, most of the investigation of semiclassical effects so far has been for strings in the AdS4 sector. Several cutoff prescriptions have been proposed, leading to different predictions for the constant term in the expansion h(\lambda)=\sqrt{\lambda/2} + c + ... . We calculate quantum corrections for giant magnons, using the algebraic curve, and show by comparing to the dispersion relation that the same prescriptions lead to the same values of c in this CP3 sector. We then turn to finite-J effects, where a comparison with the Luescher F-term correction shows a mismatch for one of the three sum prescriptions. We also compute some dyonic and higher F-terms for future comparisons.Comment: 30 pages, 1 figure, 1 table. v2 has minor improvements to the text, and extra references. v3 has further textual changes, version to appear in JHE

Vibrating giant spikes and the large-winding sector

The single spike is a rigidly rotating classical string configuration closely related to the giant magnon. We calculate bosonic and fermionic modes of this solution, from which we see that it is not supersymmetric. It can be viewed as an excitation above a hoop of string wound around the equator, in the same sense that the magnon is an excitation above an orbiting point particle. We find the operator which plays the role of the Hamiltonian for this sector, which compared to the magnon's E-J has the angular momentum replaced by a winding charge. The single spike solution is unstable, and we use the modes to attempt a semi-classical computation of its lifetime.Comment: 30 pages, 5 figures. v2 has extra references and thank

Poisson Structures of Calogero-Moser and Ruijsenaars-Schneider Models

We examine the Hamiltonian structures of some Calogero-Moser and Ruijsenaars-Schneider N-body integrable models. We propose explicit formulations of the bihamiltonian structures for the discrete models, and field-theoretical realizations of these structures. We discuss the relevance of these realizations as collective-field theory for the discrete models.Comment: 15 pages, no figures; v2 references added, typos correcte