Generalized quark-antiquark potential in AdS/CFT

In this talk we present a family of Wilson loop operators which continuously interpolates between the 1/2 BPS line and the antiparallel lines, and can be thought of as calculating a generalization of the quark--antiquark potential for the gauge theory on S^3 x R. We evaluate the first two orders of these loops perturbatively both in the gauge and string theory. We obtain analytical expressions in a systematic expansion around the 1/2 BPS configuration, and comment on possible all-loop patterns for these Wilson loops.Comment: 6 pages. Proceedings of the "XVII European Workshop on String Theory 2011", Padova, Italy, 5-9 September 201

Reciprocity of gauge operators in N=4 SYM

A recently discovered generalized Gribov-Lipatov reciprocity holds for the anomalous dimensions of various twist operators in N=4 SYM. Here, we consider a class of scaling psu(2,2|4) operators that reduce at one-loop to twist-3 maximal helicity gluonic operators. We extract from the asymptotic long-range Bethe Ansatz a closed expression for the spin dependent anomalous dimension at four loop order and provide a complete proof of reciprocity. We comment about the interplay with possible, yet unknown, wrapping corrections.Comment: Latex, JHEP style, 36 pages, v2: references adde

Holography on the lattice: the string worldsheet perspective

We review the study, on the lattice, of the Green-Schwarz gauge-fixed string action describing worldsheet fluctuations about the minimal surface holographically dual to the null cusp Wilson loop, useful to evaluate the cusp anomaly of N = 4 super Yang-Mills (sYM). We comment on discretization, numerical explorations and challenges for the non-perturbative study of this benchmark model of gauge-fixed worldsheet actions.Comment: Invited review to be published on European Physics Journal - Special Topics, 24 pages, 1 figur

Supersphere non-linear sigma model on the lattice

Two-dimensional O(N) non-linear sigma models are exactly solvable theories and have many applications, from statistical mechanics to their use as QCD toy models. We consider a supersymmetric extension, the non-linear sigma model on the supersphere~SN+2m−1|2m≡OSP(N+2m|2m)OSP(N+2m−1|2m) . We briefly describe its renormalization properties and lattice discretization, and present a strategy for numerical simulations together with some preliminary numerical results

One-loop spectroscopy of semiclassically quantized strings: bosonic sector

We make a further step in the analytically exact quantization of spinning string states in semiclassical approximation, by evaluating the exact one-loop partition function for a class of two-spin string solutions for which quadratic fluctuations form a non-trivial system of coupled modes. This is the case of a folded string in the SU(2) sector, in the limit described by a quantum Landau–Lifshitz model. The same applies to the full bosonic sector of fluctuations over the folded spinning string in AdS5 with an angular momentum J in S5. Fluctuations are governed by a special class of fourth-order differential operators, with coefficients being meromorphic functions on the torus, which we are able to solve exactly

Four loop reciprocity of twist two operators in N=4 SYM

The four loop universal anomalous dimension of twist-2 operators in N=4 SYM has been recently conjectured. In this paper, we prove that it obeys a generalized Gribov-Lipatov reciprocity, previously known to hold at the three loop level.Comment: 15 pages, v3: Appendix A.3 added, main body shortened, version accepted in JHE

A solution to the 4-tachyon off-shell amplitude in cubic string field theory

We derive an analytic series solution of the elliptic equations providing the 4-tachyon off-shell amplitude in cubic string field theory (CSFT). From such a solution we compute the exact coefficient of the quartic effective action relevant for time dependent solutions and we derive the exact coefficient of the quartic tachyon coupling. The rolling tachyon solution expressed as a series of exponentials $e^t$ is studied both using level-truncation computations and the exact 4-tachyon amplitude. The results for the level truncated coefficients are shown to converge to those derived using the exact string amplitude. The agreement with previous work on the subject, both on the quartic tachyon coupling and on the CSFT rolling tachyon, is an excellent test for the accuracy of our off-shell solution.Comment: 26 pages, 5 figure

Generalized quark-antiquark potential at weak and strong coupling

We study a two-parameter family of Wilson loop operators in N=4 supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory which interpolates smoothly between the 1/2 BPS line or circle and a pair of antiparallel lines. These observables capture a natural generalization of the quark-antiquark potential. We calculate these loops on the gauge theory side to second order in perturbation theory and in a semiclassical expansion in string theory to one-loop order. The resulting determinants are given in integral form and can be evaluated numerically for general values of the parameters or analytically in a systematic expansion around the 1/2 BPS configuration. We comment about the feasibility of deriving all-loop results for these Wilson loops.Comment: 43 pages: 15 comprising the main text and 25 for detailed appendice

Gauge invariant finite size spectrum of the giant magnon

It is shown that the finite size corrections to the spectrum of the giant magnon solution of classical string theory, computed using the uniform light-cone gauge, are gauge invariant and have physical meaning. This is seen in two ways: from a general argument where the single magnon is made gauge invariant by putting it on an orbifold as a wrapped state obeying the level matching condition as well as all other constraints, and by an explicit calculation where it is shown that physical quantum numbers do not depend on the uniform light-cone gauge parameter. The resulting finite size effects are exponentially small in the $R$-charge and the exponent (but not the prefactor) agrees with gauge theory computations using the integrable Hubbard model.Comment: 12 pages, some clarifications, references adde