We compute N=4 Super Yang Mills planar amplitudes at strong coupling by
considering minimal surfaces in AdS_5 space. The surfaces end on a null
polygonal contour at the boundary of AdS. We show how to compute the area of
the surfaces as a function of the conformal cross ratios characterizing the
polygon at the boundary. We reduce the problem to a simple set of functional
equations for the cross ratios as functions of the spectral parameter. These
equations have the form of Thermodynamic Bethe Ansatz equations. The area is
the free energy of the TBA system. We consider any number of gluons and in any
kinematic configuration.Comment: 69 pages, 19 figures, v2: references added, minor addition
