Superstrings on AdS3 at k=1
Abstract
We study superstring theory in three dimensional Anti-de Sitter spacetime with NS-NS flux, focusing on the case where the radius of curvature is equal to the string length. This corresponds to the critical level k=1 in the Wess-Zumino-Witten description. Previously, it was argued that a transition takes place at this special radius, from a phase dominated by black holes at larger radius to one dominated by long strings at smaller radius. We argue that the infinite tower of modes that become massless at k=1 is a signal of this transition. We propose a simple two-dimensional conformal field theory as the holographic dual to superstring theory at k=1. As evidence for our conjecture, we demonstrate that at large N our putative dual exactly reproduces the full spectrum of the long strings of the weakly coupled string theory, including states unprotected by supersymmetry.
Cite
@article{arxiv.1803.04420,
title = {Superstrings on AdS3 at k=1},
author = {G. Giribet and C. Hull and M. Kleban and M. Porrati and E. Rabinovici},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1803.04420},
year = {2018}
}
Comments
29 pages, one figure. An equivalent construction of the dual orbifold CFT has been added, together with a discussion of the short string spectrum and additional observations on interactions