Fluctuations and Energy Shifts in the Bethe Ansatz

We study fluctuations and finite size corrections for the ferromagnetic thermodynamic limit in the Bethe ansatz for the Heisenberg XXX1/2 spin chain, which is the AdS/CFT dual of semiclassical spinning strings. For this system we derive the standard quantum mechanical formula which expresses the energy shift as a sum over fluctuation energies. As an example we apply our results to the simplest, one-cut solution of this system and derive its spectrum of fluctuations.Comment: 8 pages, 1 figure, v2: comparison to string theory improved, reference adde

Field Decomposition and the Ground State Structure of SU(2) Yang-Mills Theory

We compute the effective potential of SU(2) Yang-Mills theory using the background field method and the Faddeev-Niemi decomposition of the gauge fields. In particular, we find that the potential will depend on the values of two scalar fields in the decomposition and that its structure will give rise to a symmetry breaking.Comment: 8 pages, 1 figure. Typos corrected and title change

A Universality Test of the Quantum String Bethe Ansatz

We show that the quantum corrected string Bethe ansatz passes an important universality test by demonstrating that it correctly incorporates the non-analytical terms in the string sigma model one-loop correction for rational three-spin strings with two out of the three spins identical. Subsequently, we use the quantum corrected string Bethe ansatz to predict the exact form of the non-analytic terms for the generic rational three-spin string.Comment: 12 pages, references adde

Shafranov's virial theorem and magnetic plasma confinement

Shafranov's virial theorem implies that nontrivial magnetohydrodynamical equilibrium configurations must be supported by externally supplied currents. Here we extend the virial theorem to field theory, where it relates to Derrick's scaling argument on soliton stability. We then employ virial arguments to investigate a realistic field theory model of a two-component plasma, and conclude that stable localized solitons can exist in the bulk of a finite density plasma. These solitons entail a nontrivial electric field which implies that purely magnetohydrodynamical arguments are insufficient for describing stable, nontrivial structures within the bulk of a plasma.Comment: 9 pages no figure

Twist-three at five loops, Bethe Ansatz and wrapping

We present a formula for the five-loop anomalous dimension of N=4 SYM twist-three operators in the sl(2) sector. We obtain its asymptotic part from the Bethe Ansatz and finite volume corrections from the generalized Luescher formalism, considering scattering processes of spin chain magnons with virtual particles that travel along the cylinder. The complete result respects the expected large spin scaling properties and passes non-trivial tests including reciprocity constraints. We analyze the pole structure and find agreement with a conjectured resummation formula. In analogy with the twist-two anomalous dimension at four-loops, wrapping effects are of order log^2 M/M^2 for large values of the spin.Comment: 19 page

Anomalous dimensions of finite size field strength operators in N=4 SYM

In the N=4 super Yang-Mills theory, we consider the higher order anomalous dimensions gamma_L(g) of purely gluonic operators Tr(F^L) where F is a component of the self-dual field strength. We propose compact closed expressions depending parametrically on L that reproduce the prediction of Bethe Ansatz equations up to five loop order, including transcendental dressing corrections. The size dependence follows a simple pattern as the perturbative order is increased and suggests hidden relations for these special operators.Comment: 26 pages, 3 eps figures. v2: published version, minor changes, references adde

Star product and the general Leigh-Strassler deformation

We extend the definition of the star product introduced by Lunin and Maldacena to study marginal deformations of N=4 SYM. The essential difference from the latter is that instead of considering U(1)xU(1) non-R-symmetry, with charges in a corresponding diagonal matrix, we consider two Z_3-symmetries followed by an SU(3) transformation, with resulting off-diagonal elements. From this procedure we obtain a more general Leigh-Strassler deformation, including cubic terms with the same index, for specific values of the coupling constants. We argue that the conformal property of N=4 SYM is preserved, in both beta- (one-parameter) and gamma_{i}-deformed (three-parameters) theories, since the deformation for each amplitude can be extracted in a prefactor. We also conclude that the obtained amplitudes should follow the iterative structure of MHV amplitudes found by Bern, Dixon and Smirnov.Comment: 21 pages, no figures, JHEP3, v2: references added, v3: appendix A added, v4: clarification in section 3.

From weak coupling to spinning strings

We identify the gauge theory dual of a spinning string of minimal energy with spins S_1, S_2 on AdS_5 and charge J on S^5. For this purpose we focus on a certain set of local operators with two different types of covariant derivatives acting on complex scalar fields. We analyse the corresponding nested Bethe equations for the ground states in the limit of large spins. The auxiliary Bethe roots form certain string configurations in the complex plane, which enable us to derive integral equations for the leading and sub-leading contribution to the anomalous dimension. The results can be expressed through the observables of the sl(2) sub-sector, i.e. the cusp anomaly f(g) and the virtual scaling function B_L(g), rendering the strong-coupling analysis straightforward. Furthermore, we also study a particular sub-class of these operators specialising to a scaling limit with finite values of the second spin at weak and strong coupling.Comment: 23 pages, 3 figures, minor changes, references adde

Spiky strings in the SL(2) Bethe Ansatz

We study spiky strings in the context of the SL(2) Bethe ansatz equations. We find an asymmetric distribution of Bethe roots along one cut that determines the all loop anomalous dimension at leading and subleading orders in a large S expansion. At leading order in strong coupling (large lambda) we obtain that the energy of such states is given, in terms of the spin S and the number of spikes n by E-S=n sqrt{lambda}/(2 pi) (ln 16 pi S/(n sqrt{lambda})+ ln sin (pi/n) - 1)+ O(ln S/S). This result matches perfectly the same expansion obtained from the known spiky string classical solution. We then discuss a two cut spiky string Bethe root distribution at one-loop in the SL(2) Bethe ansatz. In this case we find a limit where n goes to infinity, keeping (E+S)/n^2, (E-S)/n, J/n fixed. This is the one loop version of a limit previously considered in the context of the string classical solutions in AdS5 x S5. In that case it was related to a string solution in the AdS pp-wave background.Comment: 32 pages, 6 figures; v2: minor corrections, references added; v3: minor correction

Operator with large spin and spinning D3-brane

We consider the conformal dimension of an operator with large spin, using a spinning D3-brane with electric flux in AdS_5 x S^5 instead of spinning fundamental string. This spinning D3-brane solution seems to correspond to an operator made by taking trace in a large symmetric representation. The conformal dimension, the spin and the R-charge show a scaling relation in a certain region of parameters. In the small string charge limit, the result is consistent with the fundamental string picture. There is a phase transition when the fundamental string charge become larger than a certain critical value; there is no stable D3-brane solution above the critical value.Comment: 16 pages, 4 figures. v2: typos corrected, references added, series expansion of anomalous dimension added. v3: a reference added, comment on calculation in gauge theor