200 research outputs found
Matrix dynamics of fuzzy spheres
We study the dynamics of fuzzy two-spheres in a matrix model which represents
string theory in the presence of RR flux. We analyze the stability of known
static solutions of such a theory which contain commuting matrices and SU(2)
representations. We find that irreducible as well as reducible representations
are stable. Since the latter are of higher energy, this stability poses a
puzzle. We resolve this puzzle by noting that reducible representations have
marginal directions corresponding to non-spherical deformations. We obtain new
static solutions by turning on these marginal deformations. These solutions now
have instability or tachyonic directions. We discuss condensation of these
tachyons which correspond to classical trajectories interpolating from
multiple, small fuzzy spheres to a single, large sphere. We briefly discuss
spatially independent configurations of a D3/D5 system described by the same
matrix model which now possesses a supergravity dual.Comment: 26 pages, 3 figures, uses JHEP.cls; (v2) references adde
Writhe of center vortices and topological charge -- an explicit example
The manner in which continuum center vortices generate topological charge
density is elucidated using an explicit example. The example vortex
world-surface contains one lone self-intersection point, which contributes a
quantum 1/2 to the topological charge. On the other hand, the surface in
question is orientable and thus must carry global topological charge zero due
to general arguments. Therefore, there must be another contribution, coming
from vortex writhe. The latter is known for the lattice analogue of the example
vortex considered, where it is quite intuitive. For the vortex in the
continuum, including the limit of an infinitely thin vortex, a careful analysis
is performed and it is shown how the contribution to the topological charge
induced by writhe is distributed over the vortex surface.Comment: 33 latex pages, 10 figures incorporating 14 ps files. Furthermore,
the time evolution of the vortex line discussed in this work can be viewed as
a gif movie, available for download by following the PostScript link below --
watch for the cute feature at the self-intersection poin
Supertubes
It is shown that a IIA superstring carrying D0-brane charge can be
`blown-up', in a {\it Minkowski vacuum} background, to a (1/4)-supersymmetric
tubular D2-brane, supported against collapse by the angular momentum generated
by crossed electric and magnetic Born-Infeld fields. This `supertube' can be
viewed as a worldvolume realization of the sigma-model Q-lump.Comment: Revision includes mention of some configurations dual to the
supertub
D-branes on a Deformation of SU(2)
We discuss D-branes on a line of conformal field theories connected by an
exact marginal deformation. The line contains an SU(2) WZW model and two
mutually T-dual SU(2)/U(1) cosets times a free boson. We find the D-branes
preserving a U(1) isometry, an F-flux quantization condition and conformal
invariance. Away from the SU(2) point a U(1) times U(1) symmetry is broken to
U(1) times Z_k, i.e. continuous rotations of branes are accompanied by
rotations along the branes. Requiring decoupling of the cosets from the free
boson at the endpoints of the deformation breaks the continuous rotation of
branes to Z_k. At the SU(2) point the full U(1) times U(1) symmetry is
restored. This suggests the occurrence of phase transitions for branes at
angles in the coset model, at a semiclassical level. We also discuss briefly
the orientifold planes along the deformation line.Comment: 19 pages, latex, 5 figures, references adde
5d Black Hole as Emergent Geometry of Weakly Interacting 4d Hot Yang-Mills Gas
We demonstrate five-dimensional anti-de Sitter black hole emerges as dual
geometry holographic to weakly interacting N=4 superconformal Yang-Mills
theory. We first note that an ideal probe of the dual geometry is the
Yang-Mills instanton, probing point by point in spacetime. We then study
instanton moduli space at finite temperature by adopting Hitchin's proposal
that geometry of the moduli space is definable by Fisher-Rao "information
geometry". In Yang-Mills theory, the information metric is measured by a novel
class of gauge-invariant, nonlocal operators in the instanton sector. We show
that the moduli space metric exhibits (1) asymptotically anti-de Sitter, (2)
horizon at radial distance set by the Yang-Mills temperature, and (3) after
Wick rotation of the moduli space to the Lorentzian signature, a singularity at
the origin. We argue that the dual geometry emerges even for rank of gauge
groups of order unity and for weak `t Hooft coupling.Comment: Latex, 3 .eps figures; v2. typos corrected + minor change
Loop Operators and the Kondo Problem
We analyse the renormalisation group flow for D-branes in WZW models from the
point of view of the boundary states. To this end we consider loop operators
that perturb the boundary states away from their ultraviolet fixed points, and
show how to regularise and renormalise them consistently with the global
symmetries of the problem. We pay particular attention to the chiral operators
that only depend on left-moving currents, and which are attractors of the
renormalisation group flow. We check (to lowest non-trivial order in the
coupling constant) that at their stable infrared fixed points these operators
measure quantum monodromies, in agreement with previous semiclassical studies.
Our results help clarify the general relationship between boundary transfer
matrices and defect lines, which parallels the relation between
(non-commutative) fields on (a stack of) D-branes and their push-forwards to
the target-space bulk.Comment: 22 pages, 2 figure
Boundary States for the Rolling D-branes in NS5 Background
In this paper we construct the time dependent boundary states describing the
``rolling D-brane solutions'' in the NS5 background discovered recently by
Kutasov by means of the classical DBI analysis. We first survey some aspects of
non-compact branes in the NS5 background based on known boundary states in the
N=2 Liouville theory. We consider two types of non-compact branes, one of which
is BPS and the other is non-BPS but stable. Then we clarify how to Wick-rotate
the non-BPS one appropriately. We show that the Wick-rotated boundary state
realizes the correct trajectory of rolling D-brane in the classical limit, and
leads to well behaved spectral densities of open strings due to the existence
of non-trivial damping factors of energy. We further study the cylinder
amplitudes and the emission rates of massive closed string modes.Comment: 25 pages, 2 figures, v2: typos corrected, reference added, v3:
emission rates of closed strings correcte
Entropy Function for Non-extremal D1D5 and D2D6NS5-branes
We apply the entropy function formalism to non-extremal D1D5 and
D2D6NS5-branes whose throat approximation is given by the Schwarzschild black
hole in AdS_3\times S^3\times T^4 and AdS_3\times S^2\times S^1\times T^4,
respectively. We find the Bekenstein-Hawking entropy and the (alpha')^3R^4
corrections from the value of the entropy function at its saddle point. While
the higher derivative terms have no effect on the temperature, they decrease
the value of the entropy.Comment: 17 Pages, Latex file; Minor additions, version published in JHE
Holographic Kondo Model in Various Dimensions
We study the addition of localised impurities to U(N) Supersymmetric
Yang-Mills theories in (p+1)-dimensions by using the gauge/gravity
correspondence. From the gravity side, the impurities are introduced by
considering probe D(8-p)-branes extendingalong the time and radial directions
and wrapping an (7-p)-dimensional submanifold of the internal (8-p)-sphere, so
that the degrees of freedom are point-like from the gauge theory perspective.
We analyse both the configuration in which the branes generate straight flux
tubes -corresponding to actual single impurities - and the one in which
connected flux tubes are created- corresponding to dimers. We discuss the
thermodynamics of both the configurations and the related phase transition. In
particular, the specific heat of the straight flux-tube configuration is
negative for p<3, while it is never the case for the connected one. We study
the stability of the system by looking at the impurity fluctuations. Finally,
we characterise the theory by computing one- and two-point correlators of the
gauge theory operators dual to the impurity fluctuations. Because of the
underlying generalised conformal structure, such correlators can be expressed
in terms of an effective coupling constant (which runs because of its
dimensionality) and a generalised conformal dimension.Comment: 56 pages, 3 figures; v2: typos correcte
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