English

Wilson loop in AdS$_3 \times S^3 \times T^4$ from quantum M2 brane

High Energy Physics - Theory 2026-04-16 v3

Abstract

Type IIB string theory on AdS3×S3×T4_3 \times S^3\times T^4 with RR flux as the near-horizon limit of the D1-D5 solution is expected to be dual to a (4,4) supersymmetric 2d CFT parametrized by the integers Q1,Q5Q_1,Q_5 and other moduli. It is related by T-duality to type IIA string theory in the near-horizon limit of the D2-D4 solution which admits an uplift to the 11d AdS3×S3×T5_3 \times S^3\times T^5 background which is the near-horizon limit of the M2-M5 solution. We point out that this relation allows one to use the quantum M2-brane description to probe ``non-planar'' corrections in the dual 2d CFT, in close analogy with the ABJM theory case (described by M-theory on AdS4×S7/Zk_4 \times S^7/\mathbb{Z}_k). We consider an analog of a supersymmetric Wilson loop (line defect) expectation value represented by type IIA string partition function expanded around AdS2_2\subset AdS3_3 minimal surface. Its M-theory analog is the M2 brane partition function expanded near AdS2×S1_2\times S^1. We compute the 1-loop contribution Z1Z_1 to the M2 brane partition function and find that in contrast to the ABJM case in arXiv:2303.15207 (where Z1=(2sin2πk)1=k4π+π6k+...Z_1= (2\sin{\frac{2\pi}{ k}})^{-1} = \frac{k}{ 4 \pi} +\frac{\pi}{ 6k} +... contains an infinite series of higher genera string corrections, k1gsTk^{-1} \sim \frac{g_s}{ \sqrt {\rm T}}), here it is given solely by the leading string-theory contribution Z1=κ2πZ_1= \frac{\kappa}{ \sqrt{2\pi}} where κQ5\kappa \sim \sqrt{Q_5} plays a role analogous to kk. We also discuss a generalization to the mixed flux case which is straightforward from the 11d perspective.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2603.25590,
  title  = {Wilson loop in AdS$_3 \times S^3 \times T^4$ from quantum M2 brane},
  author = {Arkady A. Tseytlin and Zihan Wang},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2603.25590},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

v3: minor comments, appendix D expanded