Related papers: The non-AdS/non-CFT correspondence, or three diffe…
We study string propagation on $AdS_3$ times a compact space from an ``old fashioned'' worldsheet point of view of perturbative string theory. We derive the spacetime CFT and its Virasoro and current algebras, thus establishing the…
We use effective string theory to study mesons with large spin $J$ in large $N_c$ QCD as rotating open strings. In the first part of this work, we formulate a consistent effective field theory (EFT) for open spinning strings with light…
In this letter, an alternative string theory in twistor space is proposed for describing perturbative N=4 super-Yang-Mills theory. Like the recent proposal of Witten, this string theory uses twistor worldsheet variables and has manifest…
I present a new class of topological string theories, and discuss them in two dimensions as candidates for the string description of large-$N$ QCD. The starting point is a new class of topological sigma models, whose path integral is…
For string theory on AdS$_3$ with pure NS-NS flux a complete set of DDF operators is constructed, from which one can read off the symmetry algebra of the spacetime CFT. Together with an analysis of the spacetime spectrum, this allows us to…
We construct a 1/4 BPS soliton solution in N=4 non-commutative super Yang-Mills theory to the first order in the non-commutativity parameter \theta_{ij}. We then solve the non-commutative eigenvalue equations for the scalar fields. The…
The series of perturbative fluctuations around a multi-instanton contribution to a specific class of correlation functions of supercurrents in $\cal N=4$ supersymmetric SU(N) Yang-Mills theory is examined in the light of the AdS/CFT…
Attempts to solve Yang-Mills theory must eventually face the problem of analyzing the theory at intermediate values of the coupling constant. In this regime neither perturbation theory nor the gravity dual are adequate, and one must…
Aspects of the D=4, N=4 superconformal symmetry relevant to the AdS/CFT duality and integrability are reviewed. These include the Lie superalgebra psu(2,2|4), its representations, conformal transformations and correlation functions in N=4…
The most straightforward use of AdS/CFT correspondence gives versions of QCD where quarks are in adjoint representations. Using an asymmetric orbifold approach we obtain nonsupersymmetric QCD with four quark flavors in fundamental…
It is shown that, in some non-QCD theories, there are effects shared by QCD: (i)~in SU(2) Yang-Mills theory containing a nonlinear spinor field, there is a mass gap; (ii)~in SU(3) Proca-Higgs theory, there are flux tube solutions with a…
We test the AdS/CFT correspondence by calculating Wilson loops in N = 4 super Yang-Mills theory on R*S^3 in the planar limit. Our method is based on a novel large-N reduction, which reduces the problem to Monte Carlo calculations in the…
These are introductory lectures on the correspondence between SU(N) gauge theories and Superstring Theory in anti-de Sitter geometries (AdS). The subject combines a number of different topics, including supersymmetric field theory,…
We present a study of the worldsheets that describe the classical limit of various string scattering processes. Our main focus is on string scattering in AdS spacetime because of its relation via the AdS/CFT correspondence to gluon…
There are an infinite number of type IIB superstrings in ten dimensions, called (p,q) strings, that are labeled by two distinct string charges. They can form string junctions and string networks. These are the key to understanding the…
In 1998, J. M. Maldacena conjectured a precise duality in the low-energy (or decoupling) regime between a large N strongly-coupled SU(N) super-Yang-Mills theory defined in the four-dimensional Minkowski world-volume M^4 of a stack of N…
This is a set of lectures on the gauge/string duality and non-critical strings, with a particular emphasis on the discretized, or matrix model, approach. After a general discussion of various points of view, I describe the recent…
This is a pedagogical introduction to the AdS/CFT correspondence, based on lectures delivered by the author at the third IDPASC school. Starting with the conceptual basis of the holographic dualities, the subject is developed emphasizing…
We consider a class of non-supersymmetric gauge theories obtained by orbifolding the N=4 super-Yang-Mills theories. We focus on the resulting quiver theories in their deconstructed phase, both at small and large coupling, where a fifth…
We study superstring theories on AdS(3) x N backgrounds yielding N=2,3,4 extended superconformal symmetries in the dual boundary CFT. In each case the necessary constraints on the internal worldsheet theory N are found.