Supersymmetry anomalies in N=1\mathcal{N}=1 conformal supergravity

We solve the Wess-Zumino consistency conditions of $\mathcal{N}=1$ off-shell conformal supergravity in four dimensions and determine the general form of the superconformal anomalies for arbitrary $a$ and $c$ anomaly coefficients to leading non trivial order in the gravitino. Besides the well known Weyl and $R$-symmetry anomalies, we compute explicitly the fermionic $\mathcal{Q}$- and $\mathcal{S}$-supersymmetry anomalies. In particular, we show that $\mathcal{Q}$-supersymmetry is anomalous if and only if $R$-symmetry is anomalous. The $\mathcal{Q}$- and $\mathcal{S}$-supersymmetry anomalies give rise to an anomalous supersymmetry transformation for the supercurrent on curved backgrounds admitting Killing spinors, resulting in a deformed rigid supersymmetry algebra. Our results may have implications for supersymmetric localization and supersymmetry phenomenology. Analogous results are expected to hold in dimensions two and six and for other supergravity theories. The present analysis of the Wess-Zumino consistency conditions reproduces the holographic result of arxiv:1703.04299 and generalizes it to arbitrary $a$ and $c$ anomaly coefficients.Comment: 13+13 pages; v2: minor corrections and improvements; references added; v3: further minor typos corrected; version published in JHE

Lifshitz holography: The whole shebang

We provide a general algorithm for constructing the holographic dictionary for any asymptotically locally Lifshitz background, with or without hyperscaling violation, and for any values of the dynamical exponents $z$ and $\theta$, as well as the vector hyperscaling violating exponent, that are compatible with the null energy condition. The analysis is carried out for a very general bottom up model of gravity coupled to a massive vector field and a dilaton with arbitrary scalar couplings. The solution of the radial Hamilton-Jacobi equation is obtained recursively in the form of a graded expansion in eigenfunctions of two commuting operators, which are the appropriate generalization of the dilatation operator for non scale invariant and Lorentz violating boundary conditions. The Fefferman-Graham expansions, the sources and 1-point functions of the dual operators, the Ward identities, as well as the local counterterms required for holographic renormalization all follow from this asymptotic solution of the radial Hamilton-Jacobi equation. We also find a family of exact backgrounds with $z>1$ and $\theta>0$ corresponding to a marginal deformation shifting the vector hyperscaling violating parameter and we present an example where the conformal anomaly contains the only $z=2$ conformal invariant in $d=2$ with four spatial derivatives.Comment: 83 pages, 1 figur

AdS/CFT correspondence and Geometry

In the first part of this paper we provide a short introduction to the AdS/CFT correspondence and to holographic renormalization. We discuss how QFT correlation functions, Ward identities and anomalies are encoded in the bulk geometry. In the second part we develop a Hamiltonian approach to the method of holographic renormalization, with the radial coordinate playing the role of time. In this approach regularized correlation functions are related to canonical momenta and the near-boundary expansions of the standard approach are replaced by covariant expansions where the various terms are organized according to their dilatation weight. This leads to universal expressions for counterterms and one-point functions (in the presence of sources) that are valid in all dimensions. The new approach combines optimally elements from all previous methods and supersedes them in efficiency.Comment: 30 pages, for Proceedings of the Strasburg meeting on AdS/CFT; v2: additional Comments, refs adde

Correlation Functions in Holographic RG Flows

We discuss the computation of correlation functions in holographic RG flows. The method utilizes a recently developed Hamiltonian version of holographic renormalization and it is more efficient than previous methods. A significant simplification concerns the treatment of infinities: instead of performing a general analysis of counterterms, we develop a method where only the contribution of counterterms to any given correlator needs to be computed. For instance, the computation of renormalized 2-point functions requires only an analysis at the linearized level. We illustrate the method by discussing flat and AdS-sliced domain walls. In particular, we discuss correlation functions of the Janus solution, a recently discovered non-supersymmetric but stable AdS-sliced domain wall.Comment: 33 pages, v2 additional material on Janus solution, typos corrected, refs added, v3 additional comments on Janus solution, figure added, version to appear in JHE

Generalized dilatation operator method for non-relativistic holography

We present a general algorithm for constructing the holographic dictionary for Lifshitz and hyperscaling violating Lifshitz backgrounds for any value of the dynamical exponent $z$ and any value of the hyperscaling violation parameter $\theta$ compatible with the null energy condition. The objective of the algorithm is the construction of the general asymptotic solution of the radial Hamilton-Jacobi equation subject to the desired boundary conditions, from which the full dictionary can be subsequently derived. Contrary to the relativistic case, we find that a fully covariant construction of the asymptotic solution for running non-relativistic theories necessitates an expansion in the eigenfunctions of two commuting operators instead of one. This provides a covariant but non-relativistic grading of the expansion, according to the number of time derivatives.Comment: 6 pages; v2 references added, discussion of the algorithm and the holographic dictionary improve

Thermodynamics of Asymptotically Locally AdS Spacetimes

We formulate the variational problem for AdS gravity with Dirichlet boundary conditions and demonstrate that the covariant counterterms are necessary to make the variational problem well-posed. The holographic charges associated with asymptotic symmetries are then rederived via Noether's theorem and `covariant phase space' techniques. This allows us to prove the first law of black hole mechanics for general asymptotically locally AdS black hole spacetimes. We illustrate our discussion by computing the conserved charges and verifying the first law for the four dimensional Kerr-Newman-AdS and the five dimensional Kerr-AdS black holes.Comment: 55 pages; v2 one reference added, few signs corrected, version to appear in JHEP; v3 corrected minor typos and acknowledgement

More Supersymmetric Standard-like Models from Intersecting D6-branes on Type IIA Orientifolds

We present new classes of supersymmetric Standard-like models from type IIA \IT^6/(\IZ_2\times \IZ_2) orientifold with intersecting D6-branes. D6-branes can wrap general supersymmetric three-cycles of \IT^6=\IT^2\times \IT^2\times \IT^2, and any \IT^2 is allowed to be tilted. The models still suffer from additional exotics, however we obtained solutions with fewer Higgs doublets, as well as models with all three families of left-handed quarks and leptons arising from the same intersecting sector, and examples of a genuine left-right symmetric model with three copies of left-handed and right-handed families of quarks and leptons.Comment: 16 pages, REVTEX

Riccati equations for holographic 2-point functions

Any second order homogeneous linear ordinary differential equation can be transformed into a first order non-linear Riccati equation. We argue that the Riccati form of the linearized fluctuation equations that determine the holographic 2-point functions simplifies considerably the numerical computation of such 2-point functions and of the corresponding transport coefficients by computing directly the response functions, eliminating the arbitrary source from the start. Moreover, it provides a neat criterion for the infrared regularity of the fluctuations. In particular, it is shown that the infrared regularity conditions for scalar and tensor fluctuations coincide, and hence they are either both regular or both singular. We demonstrate our numerical recipe based on the Riccati equations by computing the holographic 2-point functions for the stress tensor and a scalar operator in a number of asymptotically anti de Sitter backgrounds of bottom up scalar-gravity models. Analytical results are obtained for the 2-point function of the transverse traceless part of the stress tensor in two confining geometries, including a geometry that belongs to the class of IHQCD. We find that in this background the spin-2 spectrum is linear and, as expected, the position space 2-point function decays exponentially at large distances at a rate proportional to the confinement scale.Comment: 33 pages, 5 figures, 2 appendices. Changes with respect to V1: major extension of the numerical and analytical analysis. Added lemma 5.1, appendices A and B and references. Corrected typo

5D Rotating Black Holes and the nAdS2_2/nCFT1_1 Correspondence

We study rotating black holes in five dimensions using the nAdS$_2$/nCFT$_1$ correspondence. A consistent truncation of pure Einstein gravity (with a cosmological constant) in five dimensions to two dimensions gives a generalization of the Jackiw-Teitelboim theory that has two scalar fields: a dilaton and a squashing parameter that breaks spherical symmetry. The interplay between these two scalar fields is non trivial and leads to interesting new features. We study the holographic description of this theory and apply the results to the thermodynamics of the rotating black hole from a two dimensional point of view. This setup challenges notions of universality that have been advanced based on simpler models: we find that the mass gap of Kerr-AdS$_5$ corresponds to an undetermined effective coupling in the nAdS$_2$/nCFT$_1$ theory which depends on ultraviolet data.Comment: 49 pages; v2 minor comments and references added; v3 fixed minor typos in eqs. (4.5) and (4.26

Walking Dynamics from String Duals

Within the context of a String Theory dual to N=1 gauge theories with gauge group SU(Nc) and large Nc, we identify a class of solutions of the background equations for which a suitably defined dual of the gauge coupling exhibits the features of a walking theory. We find evidence for three distinct, dynamically generated scales, characterizing walking, symmetry breaking and confinement, and we put them in correspondence with field theory by an analysis of the operators driving the flow.Comment: 20 pages, 7 figure