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

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

The Isoperimetric Profile of a Noncompact Riemannian Manifold for Small Volumes

In the main theorem of this paper we treat the problem of existence of minimizers of the isoperimetric problem under the assumption of small volumes. Applications of the main theorem to asymptotic expansions of the isoperimetric problem are given.Comment: 33 pages, improved version after the referee comments, (Submitted

Numerical results for the exact spectrum of planar AdS4/CFT3

We compute the anomalous dimension for a short single-trace operator in planar ABJM theory at intermediate coupling. This is done by solving numerically the set of Thermodynamic Bethe Ansatz equations which are expected to describe the exact spectrum of the theory. We implement a truncation method which significantly reduces the number of integral equations to be solved and improves numerical efficiency. Results are obtained for a range of 't Hooft coupling lambda corresponding to $0 \leq h(\lambda) \leq 1$, where h(lambda) is the interpolating function of the AdS4/CFT3 Bethe equations.Comment: v3: corrected Acknowledgements section; v4: minor changes, published version; v5: fixed typos in Eq. (3.9

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

TBA, NLO Luscher correction, and double wrapping in twisted AdS/CFT

The ground-state energy of integrably-twisted theories is analyzed in finite volume. We derive the leading and next-to-leading order (NLO) L\"uscher-type corrections for large volumes of the vacuum energy for integrable theories with twisted boundary conditions and twisted S-matrix. We then derive the twisted thermodynamic Bethe ansatz (TBA) equations to describe exactly the ground state, from which we obtain an untwisted Y-system. The two approaches are compared by expanding the TBA equations to NLO, and exact agreement is found. We give explicit results for the O(4) model and for the three-parameter family of $\gamma$-deformed (non-supersymmetric) planar AdS/CFT model, where the ground-state energy can be nontrivial and can acquire finite-size corrections. The NLO corrections, which correspond to double-wrapping diagrams, are explicitly evaluated for the latter model at six loops.Comment: 42 pages, 2 figures, v2: references added, v3: minor correction

Wrapping corrections, reciprocity and BFKL beyond the sl(2) subsector in N=4 SYM

We consider N=4 SYM and a class of spin N, length-3, twist operators beyond the well studied sl(2) subsector. They can be identified at one-loop with three gluon operators. At strong coupling, they are associated with spinning strings with two spins in AdS5. We exploit the Y-system to compute the leading weak-coupling four loop wrapping correction to their anomalous dimension. The result is written in closed form as a function of the spin N. We combine the wrapping correction with the known four-loop asymptotic Bethe Ansatz contribution and analyze special limits in the spin N. In particular, at large N, we prove that a generalized Gribov-Lipatov reciprocity holds. At negative unphysical spin, we present a simple BFKL-like equation predicting the rightmost leading poles.Comment: 18 page

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

On three-manifolds dominated by circle bundles

We determine which three-manifolds are dominated by products. The result is that a closed, oriented, connected three-manifold is dominated by a product if and only if it is finitely covered either by a product or by a connected sum of copies of the product of the two-sphere and the circle. This characterization can also be formulated in terms of Thurston geometries, or in terms of purely algebraic properties of the fundamental group. We also determine which three-manifolds are dominated by non-trivial circle bundles, and which three-manifold groups are presentable by products.Comment: 12 pages; to appear in Math. Zeitschrift; ISSN 1103-467

Hybrid-NLIE for the AdS/CFT spectral problem

Hybrid-NLIE equations, an alternative finite NLIE description for the spectral problem of the super sigma model of AdS/CFT and its gamma-deformations are derived by replacing the semi-infinite SU(2) and SU(4) parts of the AdS/CFT TBA equations by a few appropriately chosen complex NLIE variables, which are coupled among themselves and to the Y-functions associated to the remaining central nodes of the TBA diagram. The integral equations are written explicitly for the ground state of the gamma-deformed system. We linearize these NLIE equations, analytically calculate the first correction to the asymptotic solution and find agreement with analogous results coming from the original TBA formalism. Our equations differ substantially from the recently published finite FiNLIE formulation of the spectral problem.Comment: 63 pages, 1 figur