Supersymmetric Branes on AdS_5 x Y^{p,q} and their Field Theory Duals

We systematically study supersymmetric embeddings of D-brane probes of different dimensionality in the AdS_5xY^{p,q} background of type IIB string theory. The main technique employed is the kappa symmetry of the probe's worldvolume theory. In the case of D3-branes, we recover the known three-cycles dual to the dibaryonic operators of the gauge theory and we also find a new family of supersymmetric embeddings. The BPS fluctuations of dibaryons are analyzed and shown to match the gauge theory results. Supersymmetric configurations of D5-branes, representing domain walls, and of spacetime filling D7-branes (which can be used to add flavor) are also found. We also study the baryon vertex and some other embeddings which break supersymmetry but are nevertheless stable.Comment: LaTeX, 2 figures, 54 pages; v2: discussions sharpened at several points, new subsection and references adde

Localized Backreacted Flavor Branes in Holographic QCD

We investigate the perturbative (in $g_s N_{D8}$) backreaction of localized D8 branes in D4-D8 systems including in particular the Sakai Sugimoto model. We write down the explicit expressions of the backreacted metric, dilaton and RR form. We find that the backreaction remains small up to a radial value of $u \ll \ell_s/(g_s N_{D8})$, and that the background functions are smooth except at the D8 sources. In this perturbative window, the original embedding remains a solution to the equations of motion. Furthermore, the fluctuations around the original embedding, describing scalar mesons, do not become tachyonic due to the backreaction in the perturbative regime. This is is due to a cancelation between the DBI and CS parts of the D8 brane action in the perturbed background.Comment: 1+48 pages (7 figures) + 15 pages, citations added & minor correction

On unquenched N=2 holographic flavor

The addition of fundamental degrees of freedom to a theory which is dual (at low energies) to N=2 SYM in 1+3 dimensions is studied. The gauge theory lives on a stack of Nc D5 branes wrapping an S^2 with the appropriate twist, while the fundamental hypermultiplets are introduced by adding a different set of Nf D5-branes. In a simple case, a system of first order equations taking into account the backreaction of the flavor branes is derived (Nf/Nc is kept of order 1). From it, the modification of the holomorphic coupling is computed explicitly. Mesonic excitations are also discussed.Comment: 25 pages, 4 figure

Mesons in marginally deformed AdS/CFT

We study the embedding of spacetime filling D7-branes in beta-deformed backgrounds which, according to the AdS/CFT dictionary, corresponds to flavoring beta-deformed N=4 super Yang-Mills. We consider supersymmetric and more general non-supersymmetric three parameter deformations. The equations of motion for quadratic fluctuations of a probe D7-brane wrapped on a deformed three-sphere exhibit a non-trivial coupling between scalar and vector modes induced by the deformation. Nevertheless, we manage to solve them analytically and find that the mesonic mass spectrum is discrete, with a mass gap and a Zeeman-like splitting occurs. Finally we propose the action for the dual field theory as obtained by star-product deformation of super Yang-Mills with fundamental matter.Comment: LaTex, 42 pages, 3 figures, uses JHEP

A note on fermions in holographic QCD

We study the fermionic sector of a probe D8-brane in the supergravity background made of D4-branes compactified on a circle with supersymmetry broken explicitly by the boundary conditions. At low energies the dual field theory is effectively four-dimensional and has proved surprisingly successful in recovering qualitative and quantitative properties of QCD. We investigate fluctuations of the fermionic fields on the probe D8-brane and interpret these as mesinos (fermionic superpartners of mesons). We demonstrate that the masses of these modes are comparable to meson masses and show that their interactions with ordinary mesons are not suppressed.Comment: 21+1 pp, 1 figure; v2: typos corrected, refs. adde

Spectroscopy of fermionic operators in AdS/CFT

We compute the spectrum of color-singlet fermionic operators in the N=2 gauge theory on intersecting D3 and D7-branes using the AdS/CFT correspondence. The operator spectrum is found analytically by solving the equations for the dual D7-brane fluctuations. For the fermionic part of the D7-brane action, we use the Dirac-like form found by Martucci et al. (hep-th/0504041). We also consider the baryon spectrum of a large class of supersymmetric gauge theories using a phenomenological approach to the gauge/gravity duality.Comment: 19 pages, 2 tables, references adde

Cascading Quivers from Decaying D-branes

We use an argument analogous to that of Kachru, Pearson and Verlinde to argue that cascades in L^{a,b,c} quiver gauge theories always preserve the form of the quiver, and that all gauge groups drop at each step by the number M of fractional branes. In particular, we demonstrate that an NS5-brane that sweeps out the S^3 of the base of L^{a,b,c} destroys M D3-branes.Comment: 11 pages, 1 figure; v2: references adde

Holographic Gauge Theories in Background Fields and Surface Operators

We construct a new class of supersymmetric surface operators in N=4 SYM and find the corresponding dual supergravity solutions. We show that the insertion of the surface operator - which is given by a WZW model supported on the surface - appears by integrating out the localized degrees of freedom along the surface which arise microscopically from a D3/D7 brane intersection. Consistency requires constructing N=4 SYM in the D7 supergravity background and not in flat space. This enlarges the class of holographic gauge theories dual to string theory backgrounds to gauge theories in non-trivial supergravity backgrounds. The dual Type IIB supergravity solutions we find reveal - among other features - that the holographic dual gauge theory does indeed live in the D7-brane background.Comment: 42 pages, harvmac, corrected typo

Sakai-Sugimoto model, Tachyon Condensation and Chiral symmetry Breaking

We modify the Sakai-Sugimoto model of chiral symmetry breaking to take into account the open string tachyon which stretches between the flavour D8-branes and anti D8-branes. There are several reasons of consistency for doing this: (i) Even if it might be reasonable to ignore the tachyon in the ultraviolet where the flavour branes and antibranes are well separated and the tachyon is small, it is likely to condense and acquire large values in the infrared where the branes meet. This takes the system far away from the perturbatively stable minimum of the Sakai-Sugimoto model; (ii) The bifundamental coupling of the tachyon to fermions of opposite chirality makes it a suitable candidate for the quark mass and chiral condensate parameters. We show that the modified Sakai-Sugimoto model with the tachyon present has a classical solution satisfying all the desired consistency properties. In this solution chiral symmetry breaking coincides with tachyon condensation. We identify the parameters corresponding to the quark mass and the chiral condensate and also briefly discuss the mesonic spectra.Comment: 18 pages, latex; v3; conclusion in subsection 3.1 modified and appropriate changes made in the abstract and introduction to reflect this; typos corrected; version to appear in JHE