English

Dynamics of Heavy Operators in $\mathcal{N}=4$ SYM: Integrated Correlators and AdS Bubbles

High Energy Physics - Theory 2026-02-06 v1

Abstract

We study integrated correlation functions of half-BPS operators in SU(N)SU(N) N=4\mathcal{N} = 4 supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory (SYM) involving two superconformal primary operators in the stress-tensor multiplet and two identical maximal-trace operators of arbitrary RR-charge pp. Thanks to N=4\mathcal{N}=4 SYM electro-magnetic duality these integrated correlators have recently been computed as exact functions of NN, pp, and of the Yang-Mills complexified coupling τ\tau. Using a combination of tools from SL(2,Z){\rm SL}(2,\mathbb{Z}) spectral theory and resurgence analysis, we study the landscape of large-NN and/or large-charge expansions for these correlators. In particular, we find novel non-perturbative effects in the limit where NN\rightarrow \infty with p/N2p/N^2 fixed. From a holographic point of view this double-scaling regime is deeply connected with a second family of correlators which we analyse. Using the results for the maximal-trace operators, we derive an exact expression for a new integrated correlator involving two coherent-state operators, defined via an exponential generating function of multi-graviton states. At large-NN this correlator admits a holographic dual description in terms of a back-reacted geometry known as the AdS bubble. First, we show that the leading supergravity contribution to the integrated correlator agrees with a direct explicit integration of the correlator itself. Secondly, we derive predictions for the integrated version of the Virasoro-Shapiro amplitude evaluated on the AdS bubble background. Lastly, we demonstrate that the large-NN non-perturbative contributions to this integrated correlator emerge from giant-magnon configurations in the dual AdS bubble.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2602.04963,
  title  = {Dynamics of Heavy Operators in $\mathcal{N}=4$ SYM: Integrated Correlators and AdS Bubbles},
  author = {Francesco Aprile and Daniele Dorigoni and Rudolfs Treilis},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2602.04963},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

58 Pages + 4 Appendices