N=2 Gauge Theories from Wrapped Five-branes

We present string duals of four dimensional N=2 pure SU(N) SYM theory. The theory is obtained as the low energy limit of D5-branes wrapped on non-trivial two-cycles. Using seven dimensional gauged supergravity and uplifting the result to ten dimensions, we obtain solutions corresponding to various points of the N=2 moduli space. The more symmetric solution may correspond to a point with rotationally invariant classical vevs. By turning on seven dimensional scalar fields, we find a solution corresponding to a linear distribution of vevs. Both solutions are conveniently studied with a D5-probe, which also confirms many of the standard expectations for N=2 solutions.Comment: 11 pages, LateX. Revised versio

Splitting of macroscopic fundamental strings in flat space and holographic hadron decays

In this review article we present the calculation of the splitting rate in flat space of a macroscopic fundamental string either intersecting at a generic angle a Dp-brane or lying on it. The result is then applied, in the context of the string/gauge theory correspondence, to the study of exclusive decay rates of large spin mesons into mesons. As examples, we discuss the cases of N=4 SYM with a small number of flavors, and of QCD-like theories in the quenched approximation. In the latter context, explicit analytic formulas are given for decay rates of mesons formed either by heavy quarks or by massless quarks.Comment: 17 pages, 3 figures. Invited review for Modern Physics Letters

Supersymmetry breaking at the end of a cascade of Seiberg dualities

We study the IR dynamics of the cascading non-conformal quiver theory on N regular and M fractional D3 branes at the tip of the complex cone over the first del Pezzo surface. The horizon of this cone is the irregular Sasaki-Einstein manifold Y^{2,1}. Our analysis shows that at the end of the cascade supersymmetry is dynamically broken.Comment: 12 pages, 2 figures, minor changes, typos correcte

New predictions on meson decays from string splitting

We study certain exclusive decays of high spin mesons into mesons in models of large N_c quenched QCD at strong coupling using string theory. The rate of the process is calculated by studying the splitting of a macroscopic string on the relevant dual gravity backgrounds. In the leading channel for the decay of heavy quarkonium into two open-heavy quark states, one of the two produced mesons has much larger spin than the other. In this channel the decay rate is practically independent on the spin and has a mild dependence on the mass of the heavy quarks. Moreover, it is only power-like suppressed with the mass of the produced quark-anti quark pair. We also reconsider decays of high spin mesons made up of light quarks, confirming the linear dependence of the rate on the mass of the decaying meson. As a bonus of our computation, we provide a formula for the splitting rate of a macroscopic string lying on a Dp-brane in flat space

String splitting and strong coupling meson decay

We study the decay of high spin mesons using the gauge/string theory correspondence. The rate of the process is calculated by studying the splitting of a macroscopic string intersecting a D-brane. The result is applied to the decay of mesons in N=4 SYM with a small number of flavors and in a gravity dual of large N QCD. In QCD the decay of high spin mesons is found to be heavily suppressed in the regime of validity of the supergravity description.Comment: 17 pages, 2 figures. V2: References added. V3: Minor correction

Complexity in the presence of a boundary

The effects of a boundary on the circuit complexity are studied in two dimensional theories. The analysis is performed in the holographic realization of a conformal field theory with a boundary by employing different proposals for the dual of the complexity, including the \u201cComplexity = Volume\u201d (CV) and \u201cComplexity = Action\u201d (CA) prescriptions, and in the harmonic chain with Dirichlet boundary conditions. In all the cases considered except for CA, the boundary introduces a subleading logarithmic divergence in the expansion of the complexity as the UV cutoff vanishes. Holographic subregion complexity is also explored in the CV case, finding that it can change discontinuously under continuous variations of the configuration of the subregion

Notes on a SQCD-like plasma dual and holographic renormalization

We study the thermodynamics and the jet quenching parameter of a black hole solution dual to a SQCD-like plasma which includes the backreaction of fundamental flavors. The free energy is calculated in several ways, including some recently proposed holographic renormalization prescriptions. The validity of the latter is confirmed by the consistency with the other methods. The resulting thermodynamic properties are similar to the Little String Theory ones: the temperature is fixed at the Hagedorn value and the free energy is vanishing. Finally, an accurate analysis of the relevant string configurations shows that the jet quenching parameter is zero in this model, in agreement with previous findings

Holography and Unquenched Quark-Gluon Plasmas

We employ the string/gauge theory correspondence to study properties of strongly coupled quark-gluon plasmas in thermal gauge theories with a large number of colors and flavors. In particular, we analyze non-critical string duals of conformal (S)QCD, as well as ten dimensional wrapped fivebrane duals of SQCD-like theories. We study general properties of the dual plasmas, including the drag force exerted on a probe quark and the jet quenching parameter. We find that these plasma observables depend on the number of colors and flavors in the ``QCD dual''; in particular, we find that the jet quenching parameter increases linearly with N_f/N_c at leading order in the probe limit. In the ten dimensional case we find a non trivial drag coefficient but a vanishing jet quenching parameter. We comment on the relation of this result with total screening and argue that the same features are shared by all known plasmas dual to fivebranes in ten dimensions. We also construct new D5 black hole solutions with spherical horizon and show that they exhibit the same features.Comment: 30 pages. v2: Comments in section 2 and references updated, a typo fixe

Wilson Loop, Regge Trajectory and Hadron Masses in a Yang-Mills Theory from Semiclassical Strings

We compute the one-loop string corrections to the Wilson loop, glueball Regge trajectory and stringy hadron masses in the Witten model of non supersymmetric, large-N Yang-Mills theory. The classical string configurations corresponding to the above field theory objects are respectively: open straight strings, folded closed spinning strings, and strings orbiting in the internal part of the supergravity background. For the rectangular Wilson loop we show that besides the standard Luescher term, string corrections provide a rescaling of the field theory string tension. The one-loop corrections to the linear glueball Regge trajectories render them nonlinear with a positive intercept, as in the experimental soft Pomeron trajectory. Strings orbiting in the internal space predict a spectrum of hadronic-like states charged under global flavor symmetries which falls in the same universality class of other confining models.Comment: 52 pages, latex 3 times, v3: references adde