Related papers: PP-wave string interactions from perturbative Yang…
We find a new Penrose limit of AdS_5*S^5 that gives the maximally symmetric pp-wave background of type IIB string theory in a coordinate system that has a manifest space-like isometry. This induces a new pp-wave/gauge-theory duality which…
Centre-stabilised $SU(N)$ Yang-Mills theories on $\mathbb{R}^3 \times S^1$ are QCD-like theories that can be engineered to remain weakly-coupled at all energy scales by taking the $S^1$ circle length $L$ to be sufficiently small. In this…
We consider, in a string theory framework, physical processes of phenomenological interest in models with a low string scale. The amplitudes we study involve tree-level virtual gravitational exchange, divergent in a field-theoretical…
We consider the operators with highest anomalous dimension $\Delta$ in the compact rank-one sectors $\mathfrak{su}(1|1)$ and $\mathfrak{su}(2)$ of ${\cal N}=4$ super Yang-Mills. We study the flow of $\Delta$ from weak to strong 't Hooft…
The large-N limit of gauge theories has been playing a crucial role in theoretical physics over the decades. Despite its importance, little is known outside the planar limit where the 't Hooft coupling $\lambda=g_{YM}^2N$ is fixed. In this…
We study an exactly marginal deformation of N=4 SUSY Yang-Mills with gauge group U(N) using field theory and string theory methods. The classical theory has a Higgs branch for rational values of the deformation parameter. We argue that the…
We generalize the Gervais-Neveu gauge to four-dimensional N=1 superspace. The model describes an N=2 super Yang-Mills theory. All chiral superfields (N=2 matter and ghost multiplets) exactly cancel to all loops. The remaining hermitian…
We review our recent work on the glueball spectrum of pure Yang-Mills theory in 2+1 dimensions. The calculations make use of Karabali-Nair corner variables in the Hamiltonian formalism, and involve a determination of the leading form of the…
Pure lattice SU(2) Yang-Mills theory in five dimensions is considered, where an extra dimension is compactified on a circle. Monte-Carlo simulations indicate that the theory possesses a continuum limit with a non-vanishing string tension if…
We systematically study the factorization and recursion relations in higher genus correlation functions of BMN (Berenstein-Maldacena-Nastase) operators in free N=4 super Yang Mills theory. These properties were found in a previous paper by…
We consider two-dimensional Yang-Mills theories on arbitrary Riemann surfaces. We introduce a generalized Yang-Mills action, which coincides with the ordinary one on flat surfaces but differs from it in its coupling to two-dimensional…
We study an alternative to dimensional regularisation of planar scattering amplitudes in N=4 super Yang-Mills theory by going to the Coulomb phase of the theory. The infrared divergences are regulated by masses obtained from a Higgs…
The free energy density of ${\cal N}=4$ supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory in four space-time dimensions is derived through second order in the 't Hooft coupling $\lambda$ at finite temperature using effective-field theory methods. The…
We inspect the excitation energy spectrum of a confining string in terms of solitons in an effective field theory model. The spectrum can be characterized by a spectral function, and twisting and bending of the string is manifested by the…
We consider the critical behavior for a string theory near the Hagedorn temperature. We use the factorization of the worldsheet to isolate the Hagedorn divergences at all genera. We show that the Hagedorn divergences can be resummed by…
A broad class of observables in four-dimensional $\mathcal{N}=2$ and $\mathcal{N}=4$ superconformal Yang-Mills theories can be exactly computed for arbitrary 't Hooft coupling as Fredholm determinants of integrable Bessel operators. These…
The free energy of the maximally supersymmetric SU(N) gauge theory at temperature T is expected to scale, in the large N limit, as N^2 T^4 times a function of the 't Hooft coupling, f(g_{YM}^2 N). In the strong coupling limit the free…
We examine the problem of counting bound states of BPS black holes on local Calabi-Yau threefolds which are fibrations over a Riemann surface by computing the partition function of q-deformed Yang-Mills theory on the Riemann surface. We…
The width of the quantum delocalization of the QCD strings is investigated in effective string models beyond free Nambu-Goto approximation. We consider two Lorentzian-invariant boundary-terms in the L\"uscher-Weisz string action in addition…
We solve, using localization, for the large-N master field of N=2* super-Yang-Mills theory. From that we calculate expectation values of large Wilson loops and the free energy on the four-sphere. At weak coupling, these observables only…