On the Fermionic Frequencies of Circular Strings

We revisit the semiclassical computation of the fluctuation spectrum around different circular string solutions in AdS_5xS^5 and AdS_4xCP^3, starting from the Green-Schwarz action. It has been known that the results for these frequencies obtained from the algebraic curve and from the worldsheet computations sometimes do not agree. In particular, different methods give different results for the half-integer shifts in the mode numbers of the frequencies. We find that these discrepancies can be removed if one carefully takes into account the transition matrices in the spin bundle over the target space.Comment: 13 pages, 1 figur

Quark--anti-quark potential in N=4 SYM

We construct a closed system of equations describing the quark--anti-quark potential at any coupling in planar N=4 supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory. It is based on the Quantum Spectral Curve method supplemented with a novel type of asymptotics. We present a high precision numerical solution reproducing the classical and one-loop string predictions very accurately. We also analytically compute the first 7 nontrivial orders of the weak coupling expansion. Moreover, we study analytically the generalized quark--anti-quark potential in the limit of large imaginary twist to all orders in perturbation theory. We demonstrate how the QSC reduces in this case to a one-dimensional Schrodinger equation. In the process we establish a link between the Q-functions and the solution of the Bethe-Salpeter equation.Comment: 31 pages, 1 figure; v2: minor correcton

The Dressing Factor and Crossing Equations

We utilize the DHM integral representation for the BES dressing factor of the world-sheet S-matrix of the AdS_5xS^5 light-cone string theory, and the crossing equations to fix the principal branch of the dressing factor on the rapidity torus. The results obtained are further used, in conjunction with the fusion procedure, to determine the bound state dressing factor of the mirror theory. We convincingly demonstrate that the mirror bound state S-matrix found in this way does not depend on the internal structure of a bound state solution employed in the fusion procedure. This welcome feature is in perfect parallel to string theory, where the corresponding bound state S-matrix has no bearing on bound state constituent particles as well. The mirror bound state S-matrix we found provides the final missing piece in setting up the TBA equations for the AdS_5xS^5 mirror theory.Comment: LaTex, 48 pages, 10 figures; v2: a new section added where the dressing factor of the mirror theory is found; v3: formula (6.12) is corrected, a new figure is added, accepted for publication in J.Phys.

The quark anti-quark potential and the cusp anomalous dimension from a TBA equation

We derive a set of integral equations of the TBA type for the generalized cusp anomalous dimension, or the quark antiquark potential on the three sphere, as a function of the angles. We do this by considering a family of local operators on a Wilson loop with charge L. In the large L limit the problem can be solved in terms of a certain boundary reflection matrix. We determine this reflection matrix by using the symmetries and the boundary crossing equation. The cusp is introduced through a relative rotation between the two boundaries. Then the TBA trick of exchanging space and time leads to an exact equation for all values of L. The L=0 case corresponds to the cusped Wilson loop with no operators inserted. We then derive a slightly simplified integral equation which describes the small angle limit. We solve this equation up to three loops in perturbation theory and match the results that were obtained with more direct approaches.Comment: 63 pages, 12 figures. v2: references added, typos correcte

Quantum Spectral Curve at Work: From Small Spin to Strong Coupling in N=4 SYM

We apply the recently proposed quantum spectral curve technique to the study of twist operators in planar N=4 SYM theory. We focus on the small spin expansion of anomalous dimensions in the sl(2) sector and compute its first two orders exactly for any value of the 't Hooft coupling. At leading order in the spin S we reproduced Basso's slope function. The next term of order S^2 structurally resembles the Beisert-Eden-Staudacher dressing phase and takes into account wrapping contributions. This expansion contains rich information about the spectrum of local operators at strong coupling. In particular, we found a new coefficient in the strong coupling expansion of the Konishi operator dimension and confirmed several previously known terms. We also obtained several new orders of the strong coupling expansion of the BFKL pomeron intercept. As a by-product we formulated a prescription for the correct analytical continuation in S which opens a way for deriving the BFKL regime of twist two anomalous dimensions from AdS/CFT integrability.Comment: 53 pages, references added; v3: due to a typo in the coefficients C_2 and D_2 on page 29 we corrected the rational part of the strong coupling predictions in equations (1.5-6), (6.22-24), (6.27-30) and in Table

Three-point function of semiclassical states at weak coupling

We give the derivation of the previously announced analytic expression for the correlation function of three heavy non-BPS operators in N=4 super-Yang-Mills theory at weak coupling. The three operators belong to three different su(2) sectors and are dual to three classical strings moving on the sphere. Our computation is based on the reformulation of the problem in terms of the Bethe Ansatz for periodic XXX spin-1/2 chains. In these terms the three operators are described by long-wave-length excitations over the ferromagnetic vacuum, for which the number of the overturned spins is a finite fraction of the length of the chain, and the classical limit is known as the Sutherland limit. Technically our main result is a factorized operator expression for the scalar product of two Bethe states. The derivation is based on a fermionic representation of Slavnov's determinant formula, and a subsequent bosonisation.Comment: 28 pages, 5 figures, cosmetic changes and more typos corrected in v

The AdS4/CFT3 algebraic curve

We present the OSp(2,2|6) symmetric algebraic curve for the AdS4/CFT3 duality recently proposed in arXiv:0806.1218. It encodes all classical string solutions at strong t'Hooft coupling and the full two loop spectrum of long single trace gauge invariant operators in the weak coupling regime. This construction can also be used to compute the complete superstring semi-classical spectrum around any classical solution. We exemplify our method on the BMN point-like string.Comment: Typos and factors of 2 fixed. Main results are not affecte

The all loop AdS4/CFT3 Bethe ansatz

We propose a set of Bethe equations yielding the full asymptotic spectrum of the AdS4/CFT3 duality proposed in arXiv:0806.1218 to all orders in the t'Hooft coupling. These equations interpolate between the 2-loop Bethe ansatz of Minahan and Zarembo arXiv:0806.3951 and the string algebraic curve of arXiv:0807.0437. The several SU(2|2) symmetries of the theory seem to highly constrain the form of the Bethe equations up to a dressing factor whose form we also conjecture.Comment: References added. Factor of 2 in the discussion of the (generalized) scaling function fixe