Embedding nonlinear O(6) sigma model into N=4 super-Yang-Mills theory

Anomalous dimensions of high-twist Wilson operators have a nontrivial scaling behavior in the limit when their Lorentz spin grows exponentially with the twist. To describe the corresponding scaling function in planar N=4 SYM theory, we analyze an integral equation recently proposed by Freyhult, Rej and Staudacher and argue that at strong coupling it can be casted into a form identical to the thermodynamical Bethe Ansatz equations for the nonlinear O(6) sigma model. This result is in a perfect agreement with the proposal put forward by Alday and Maldacena within the dual string description, that the scaling function should coincide with the energy density of the nonlinear O(6) sigma model embedded into AdS_5xS^5.