Related papers: Stringy gravity, interacting tensionless strings a…

We explore the space of non-gravitational, maximally supersymmetric, planar 4d effective field theories (EFTs) that have $\mathcal{N}=4$ super Yang-Mills (SYM) at leading order. We show that in the weakly-coupled regime, highly non-trivial…

Marginal beta deformations of N=4 super-Yang-Mills theory are known to correspond to a certain class of deformations of the S^5 background subspace of type IIB string theory in AdS_5 x S^5. An analogous set of deformations of the AdS_5…

This dissertation consists of a comprehensive and pedagogical review of Maldacena's original derivation of the AdS/CFT correspondence and the main topics of string theory necessary to understand it. The large $N$ expansion of Yang-Mills…

It has been recently proposed that string theory in the background of a plane wave corresponds to a certain subsector of the N=4 supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory. This correspondence follows as a limit of the AdS/CFT duality. As a…

Massive type IIA supergravity admits a warped AdS_6 x S^4 vacuum solution, which is expected to be dual to an N=2, D=5 super-conformal Yang-Mills theory. We study solutions for strings rotating or spinning in this background. The warp…

Integrability occupies an increasingly important role in direct tests of the AdS/CFT correspondence. Integrable structures have appeared in both planar N=4 super Yang-Mills theory and type IIB superstring theory on AdS_5 x S^5. A…

Studies of noncommutative gauge theory have mainly focused on noncommutative spacetimes with constant noncommutative structure, with little known about actions for noncommutative 4D Yang-Mills theory beyond this case. We construct an action…

AdS/CFT-correspondence establishes a relationship between supersymmetric gravity (SUGRA) on Anti-de-Sitter (AdS) space and supersymmetric Yang-Mills (SYM) theory which is conformaly invariant (CFT). The AdS space is the solution of the…

{A} Higher Spin Gravity in five dimensions is constructed. It was shown recently that constructing formally consistent classical equations of motion of higher spin gravities is equivalent to finding a certain deformation of a given higher…

We investigate drag force in a thermal plasma of N=4 super Yang-Mills theory via both fundamental and Dirichlet strings under the influence of non-zero NSNS $B$-field background. In the description of AdS/CFT correspondence the endpoint of…

Using $\mathcal{N}=4$ supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory we recover important aspects of the near-extremal thermodynamics of AdS$_5$ black holes including both the outer and the inner horizons with their corresponding entropy and energy. This…

In this introductory review we discuss dynamical tests of the AdS_5 x S^5 string/N=4 super Yang-Mills duality. After a brief introduction to AdS/CFT we argue that semiclassical string energies yield information on the quantum spectrum of…

Recent progress towards understanding a strong coupling expansion for various superconformal field theories in four dimensions is described. First, the case of the maximally supersymmetric Yang Mills theory is analyzed, as well as many…

Infrared modifications of gravity have been proposed over the years as potentially useful phenomenological models. Massive (multi)-gravity is an interesting class of such theories. The true nature and the ultimate consistency of many of…

Following Gubser, Klebanov and Polyakov [hep-th/0204051], we study strings in AdS black hole backgrounds. With respect to the pure AdS case, rotating strings are replaced by orbiting strings. We interpret these orbiting strings as CFT…

We give an introductory account of the AdS/CFT correspondence in the 1/2-BPS sector of ${\cal N}=4$ super Yang-Mills theory.Six of the dimensions of the string theory are emergent in the Yang-Mills theory. In this article we suggest how…

We consider gauge/gravity correspondence between maximally supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory in ($p+1$) dimensions and superstring theory on the near-horizon limit of the D$p$-brane solution. The string-frame metric is AdS$_{p+1}\times…

We test the spectrum of string theory on AdS_5 x S^5 derived in hep-th/0305052 against that of single-trace gauge invariant operators in free N=4 super Yang-Mills theory. Masses of string excitations at critical tension are derived by…

Tensionless string theory on AdS3 x S3 x T4, as captured by a free symmetric product orbifold, has a large set of conserved currents which can be usefully organised in terms of representations of a N=(4,4) supersymmetric higher spin…

In the first part of these lectures we will review the main aspects of large N QCD and the explicit results obtained from it. Then, after a review of the properties of N=4 super Yang-Mills, type IIB string theory and of AdS space, we…