Classical Liouville Three-point Functions from Riemann-Hilbert Analysis

We study semiclassical correlation functions in Liouville field theory on a two-sphere when all operators have large conformal dimensions. In the usual approach, such computation involves solving the classical Liouville equation, which is known to be extremely difficult for higher-point functions. To overcome this difficulty, we propose a new method based on the Riemann-Hilbert analysis, which is applied recently to the holographic calculation of correlation functions in AdS/CFT. The method allows us to directly compute the correlation functions without solving the Liouville equation explicitly. To demonstrate its utility, we apply it to three-point functions, which are known to be solvable, and confirm that it correctly reproduces the classical limit of the DOZZ formula for quantum three-point functions. This provides good evidence for the validity of this method.Comment: 34 pages, pdfLaTeX, 4 TikZ figures; v2: minor typos corrected, references added, v3: minor typos corrected, references adde

Three-point functions in the SU(2) sector at strong coupling

Extending the methods developed in our previous works (arXiv:1110.3949, arXiv:1205.6060), we compute the three-point functions at strong coupling of the non-BPS states with large quantum numbers corresponding to the composite operators belonging to the so-called SU(2) sector in the $\mathcal{N}=4$ super-Yang-Mills theory in four dimensions. This is achieved by the semi-classical evaluation of the three-point functions in the dual string theory in the $AdS_3 \times S^3$ spacetime, using the general one-cut finite gap solutions as the external states. In spite of the complexity of the contributions from various parts in the intermediate stages, the final answer for the three-point function takes a remarkably simple form, exhibiting the structure reminiscent of the one obtained at weak coupling. In particular, in the Frolov-Tseytlin limit the result is expressed in terms of markedly similar integrals, however with different contours of integration. We discuss a natural mechanism for introducing additional singularities on the worldsheet without affecting the infinite number of conserved charges, which can modify the contours of integration.Comment: 128 pages (A summary is given in section 1); v2 minor improvement

More Exact Results in the Wilson Loop Defect CFT: Bulk-Defect OPE, Nonplanar Corrections and Quantum Spectral Curve

We perform exact computations of correlation functions of 1/2-BPS local operators and protected operator insertions on the 1/8-BPS Wilson loop in $\mathcal{N}=4$ SYM. This generalizes the results of our previous paper arXiv:1802.05201, which employs supersymmetric localization, OPE and the Gram-Schmidt process. In particular, we conduct a detailed analysis for the 1/2-BPS circular (or straight) Wilson loop in the planar limit, which defines an interesting nontrivial defect CFT. We compute its bulk-defect structure constants at finite 't Hooft coupling, and present simple integral expressions in terms of the $Q$-functions that appear in the Quantum Spectral Curve---a formalism originally introduced for the computation of the operator spectrum. The results at strong coupling are found to be in precise agreement with the holographic calculation based on perturbation theory around the AdS$_2$ string worldsheet, where they correspond to correlation functions of open string fluctuations and closed string vertex operators inserted on the worldsheet. Along the way, we clarify several aspects of the Gram-Schmidt analysis which were not addressed in the previous paper. In particular, we clarify the role played by the multi-trace operators at the non-planar level, and confirm its importance by computing the non-planar correction to the defect two-point function. We also provide a formula for the first non-planar correction to the defect correlators in terms of the Quantum Spectral Curve, which suggests the potential applicability of the formalism to the non-planar correlation functions.Comment: 44 pages + appendices. v2 references adde

On the singlet projector and the monodromy relation for psu(2, 2|4) spin chains and reduction to subsectors

As a step toward uncovering the relation between the weak and the strong coupling regimes of the $\mathcal{N}=4$ super Yang-Mills theory beyond the specral level, we have developed in a previous paper [arXiv:1410.8533] a novel group theoretic interpretation of the Wick contraction of the fields, which allowed us to compute a much more general class of three-point functions in the SU(2) sector, as in the case of strong coupling [arXiv:1312.3727], directly in terms of the determinant representation of the partial domain wall partition funciton. Furthermore, we derived a non-trivial identity for the three point functions with monodromy operators inserted, being the discrete counterpart of the global monodromy condition which played such a crucial role in the computation at strong coupling. In this companion paper, we shall extend our study to the entire ${\rm psu}(2,2|4)$ sector and obtain several important generalizations. They include in particular (i) the manifestly conformally covariant construction, from the basic principle, of the singlet-projection operator for performing the Wick contraction and (ii) the derivation of the monodromy relation for the case of the so-called "harmonic R-matrix", as well as for the usual fundamental R-matrtix. The former case, which is new and has features rather different from the latter, is expected to have important applications. We also describe how the form of the monodromy relation is modified as ${\rm psu}(2,2|4)$ is reduced to its subsectors.Comment: 49+10 pages;v3 Published version. Typos corrected. Explicit form of the monodromy relations for the three-point functions displaye

Novel construction and the monodromy relation for three-point functions at weak coupling

In this article, we shall develop and formulate two novel viewpoints and properties concerning the three-point functions at weak coupling in the SU(2) sector of the N = 4 super Yang-Mills theory. One is a double spin-chain formulation of the spin-chain and the associated new interpretation of the operation of Wick contraction. It will be regarded as a skew symmetric pairing which acts as a projection onto a singlet in the entire SO(4) sector, instead of an inner product in the spin-chain Hilbert space. This formalism allows us to study a class of three-point functions of operators built upon more general spin-chain vacua than the special configuration discussed so far in the literature. Furthermore, this new viewpoint has the signicant advantage over the conventional method: In the usual "tailoring" operation, the Wick contraction produces inner products between off-shell Bethe states, which cannot be in general converted into simple expressions. In contrast, our procedure directly produces the so-called partial domain wall partition functions, which can be expressed as determinants. Using this property, we derive simple determinantal representation for a broader class of three-point functions. The second new property uncovered in this work is the non-trivial identity satisfied by the three-point functions with monodromy operators inserted. Generically this relation connects three-point functions of different operators and can be regarded as a kind of Schwinger-Dyson equation. In particular, this identity reduces in the semiclassical limit to the triviality of the product of local monodromies around the vertex operators, which played a crucial role in providing all important global information on the three-point function in the strong coupling regime. This structure may provide a key to the understanding of the notion of "integrability" beyond the spectral level.Comment: 35 pages;v2 Minor corrections made. An appendix and references added;v3 Typos correcte

The hexagon in the mirror: the three-point function in the SoV representation

We derive an integral expression for the leading-order type I-I-I three-point functions in the $\mathfrak{su}(2)$-sector of $\mathcal{N}=4$ super Yang-Mills theory, for which no determinant formula is known. To this end, we first map the problem to the partition function of the six vertex model with a hexagonal boundary. The advantage of the six-vertex model expression is that it reveals an extra symmetry of the problem, which is the invariance under 90$^{\circ}$ rotation. On the spin-chain side, this corresponds to the exchange of the quantum space and the auxiliary space and is reminiscent of the mirror transformation employed in the worldsheet S-matrix approaches. After the rotation, we then apply Sklyanin's separation of variables (SoV) and obtain a multiple-integral expression of the three-point function. The resulting integrand is expressed in terms of the so-called Baxter polynomials, which is closely related to the quantum spectral curve approach. Along the way, we also derive several new results about the SoV, such as the explicit construction of the basis with twisted boundary conditions and the overlap between the orginal SoV state and the SoV states on the subchains.Comment: 37 pages, 10 figure