Predictions for PP-wave string amplitudes from perturbative SYM

The role of general two-impurity multi-trace operators in the BMN correspondence is explored. Surprisingly, the anomalous dimensions of all two-impurity multi-trace BMN operators to order g_2^2\lambda' are completely determined in terms of single-trace anomalous dimensions. This is due to suppression of connected field theory diagrams in the BMN limit and this fact has important implications for some string theory processes on the PP-wave background. We also make gauge theory predictions for the matrix elements of the light-cone string field theory Hamiltonian in the two string-two string and one string-three string sectors.Comment: 46 pages, 12 figures. V3:typos correcte

Decay Modes of Unstable Strings in Plane-Wave String Field Theory

The cubic interaction vertex of light-cone string field theory in the plane-wave background has a simple effective form when considering states with only bosonic excitations. This simple effective interaction vertex is used in this paper to calculate the three string interaction matrix elements for states of arbitrary bosonic excitation and these results are used to examine certain decay modes on the mass-shell. It is shown that the matrix elements of one string to two string decays involving only bosonic excitations will vanish to all orders in 1/mu on the mass-shell when the number of excitations on the initial string is less than or equal to two, but in general will not vanish when the number of excitations is greater than two. Also, a truncated calculation of the mass-shell matrix elements for one string to three string decays of two excitation states is performed and suggests that these matrix elements do not vanish on the mass-shell. There is, however, a quantitative discrepancy between this last result and its (also non-vanishing) gauge theory prediction from the BMN correspondence.Comment: 11 pages; v2: references added; v3: normalization of interaction vertex and corresponding amplitudes changed by a factor of mu to reflect SFT normalization (must now divide by mu to compare with BMN dual gauge theory), and minor errors correcte

Graviton-Scalar Interaction in the PP-Wave Background

We compute the graviton two scalar off-shell interaction vertex at tree level in Type IIB superstring theory on the pp-wave background using the light-cone string field theory formalism. We then show that the tree level vertex vanishes when all particles are on-shell and conservation of p_{+} and p_{-} are imposed. We reinforce our claim by calculating the same vertex starting from the corresponding SUGRA action expanded around the pp-wave background in the light-cone gauge.Comment: 26 pages, harvmac One reference added. A few comments changed in the introduction. The "cyclic perms." term removed from some equations as unnecessary and equations (2.38) and (3.19) are corrected accordingl

A Calculation of the plane wave string Hamiltonian from N=4 super-Yang-Mills theory

Berenstein, Maldacena, and Nastase have proposed, as a limit of the strong form of the AdS/CFT correspondence, that string theory in a particular plane wave background is dual to a certain subset of operators in the N=4 super-Yang-Mills theory. Even though this is a priori a strong/weak coupling duality, the matrix elements of the string theory Hamiltonian, when expressed in gauge theory variables, are analytic in the 't Hooft coupling constant. This allows one to conjecture that, like the masses of excited string states, these can be recovered using perturbation theory in Yang-Mills theory. In this paper we identify the difference between the generator of scale transformations and a particular U(1) R-symmetry generator as the operator dual to the string theory Hamiltonian for nonvanishing string coupling. We compute its matrix elements and find that they agree with the string theory prediction provided that the state-operator map is modified for nonvanishing string coupling. We construct this map explicitly and calculate the anomalous dimensions of the new operators. We identify the component arising from the modification of the state-operator map with the contribution of the string theory contact terms to the masses of string states.Comment: 38 pages, Latex; v2: Comparison with string theory changed in light of corrections to string theory results in hep-th/0206073 v3; state-operator map modified; Physical interpretation and conclusions unchange

Non-Abelian BIonic Brane Intersections

We study "fuzzy funnel" solutions to the non-Abelian equations of motion of the D-string. Our funnel describes n^6/360 coincident D-strings ending on n^3/6 D7-branes, in terms of a fuzzy six-sphere which expands along the string. We also provide a dual description of this configuration in terms of the world volume theory of the D7-branes. Our work makes use of an interesting non-linear higher dimensional generalization of the instanton equations.Comment: 17 pages uses harvmac; v2: small typos corrected, refs adde

On light-cone SFT contact terms in a plane wave

Testing the BMN correspondence at non-zero string coupling g_s requires a one-loop string field theory calculation. At order g_s^2, matrix elements of the light-cone string field theory Hamiltonian between single-string states receive two contributions: the iterated cubic interaction, and a contact term {Q, Q} whose presence is dictated by supersymmetry. In this paper we calculate the leading large mu p^+ alpha' contribution from both terms for the set of intermediate states with two string excitations. We find precise agreement with the basis-independent order g_2^2 results from gauge theory.Comment: 15 pages, 1 figur

Crowding and visual search in high functioning adults with autism spectrum disorder

Purpose: Individuals with autism spectrum disorder have demonstrated faster reaction times when searching for objects in a visual scene. One possible explanation for this observation is that the influence of crowding may not be as strong within this group compared to typically developing individuals. Subjects and methods: We recruited 16 participants with and without a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder in the age range of 20–58 years. The main experiments focused on determining the critical spacing for the correct identification of an ellipse’s orientation in the periphery when flanked by two circles with 81% correctly identified. The second experiment was an attempt to replicate previous studies that had demonstrated superior visual search in autism using reaction time, set-size slopes and intercepts as measures of search efficiency and pre-attentive processes. Results: There were no significant group differences in the critical spacings for the crowded ellipses in the periphery (P = 0.358) or in the elliptical discrimination thresholds (P = 0.477). In addition there were no significant differences between groups in reaction times (P = 0.083), accuracy (P = 0.658) and set-size slopes (P = 0.976), however the intercept for the set-size slope function was significantly lower for the comparison group (P = 0.016). Conclusions: The individuals we tested demonstrated neither immunity to crowding nor any advantage in the visual search task. Therefore, we failed to confirm that enhanced discrimination underlies superiority in visual search in adults with high functioning autism spectrum disorder. This finding may be associated with the older age group investigated compared to previous studies and suggests that the underlying mechanism of superior visual search may not be a persistent feature of autism spectrum disorder

Nonabelian D-branes and Noncommutative Geometry

We discuss the nonabelian world-volume action which governs the dynamics of N coincident Dp-branes. In this theory, the branes' transverse displacements are described by matrix-valued scalar fields, and so this is a natural physical framework for the appearance of noncommutative geometry. One example is the dielectric effect by which Dp-branes may be polarized into a noncommutative geometry by external fields. Another example is the appearance of noncommutative geometries in the description of intersecting D-branes of differing dimensions, such as D-strings ending on a D3- or D5-brane. We also describe the related physics of giant gravitons.Comment: 21 pages, Latex, ref. adde

Instability and Degeneracy in the BMN Correspondence

Non-degenerate perturbation theory, which was used to calculate the scale dimension of operators on the gauge theory side of the correspondence, breaks down when effects of triple trace operators are included. We interpret this as an instability of excited single-string states in the dual string theory for decay into the continuum of degenerate 3-string states. We apply time-dependent perturbation theory to calculate the decay widths from gauge theory. These widths are new gauge theory data which can be compared with future calculations in light cone string field theory.Comment: 23 pages, no figure