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Semiclassical spinning string states in AdS_5 are, in general, characterised by the three SO(2,4) conserved charges: the energy E and the two spins S_1 and S_2. We discuss several examples of explicit classical solutions for rigid closed strings of (bended) circular shape with two non-zero spins. In particular, we identify a solution that should represent a state that has minimal energy for large values of the two equal spins. Similarly to the spiky string in AdS_3, in the large spin limit this string develops long "arcs" that stretch towards the boundary of AdS_5. This allows the string to increase the spin while having the energy growing only logarithmically with S=S_1 +S_2. The large spin asymptotics of such solutions is effectively controlled by their near-boundary parts which, as in the spiky string case, happen to be SO(2,4) equivalent to segments of the straight folded spinning string. As a result, the coefficient of the \log S term in the string energy should be given, up to an overall 3/2 coefficient, by the same universal scaling function (cusp anomaly) as in the folded string case, to all orders in the inverse string tension or strong-coupling expansion., Comment: 34 pages, 9 figures

We review some recent progress in understanding the spectrum of energies/dimensions of strings/operators in AdS5 x S5 -- planar N=4 super Yang-Mills correspondence. We consider leading strong coupling corrections to the energy of lightest massive string modes in AdS5 x S5, which should be dual to members of the Konishi operator multiplet in the SYM theory. This determines the general structure of strong-coupling expansion of the anomalous dimension of the Konishi operator. Following arXiv:0906.4294 we use 1-loop results for semiclassical string states to extract information about the leading coefficients in this expansion., Comment: 13 pages. Contribution to proceedings of the conference: "Crossing the boundaries: Gauge dynamics at strong coupling", honoring the 60th birthday of M.A. Shifman, Minneapolis, May 14-17, 2009. misprints corrected

We consider leading strong coupling corrections to the energy of the lightest massive string modes in AdS_5 x S^5, which should be dual to members of the Konishi operator multiplet in N=4 SYM theory. This determines the general structure of the strong-coupling expansion of the anomalous dimension of the Konishi operator. We use 1-loop results for several semiclassical string states to extract information about the leading coefficients in this expansion. Our prediction is Delta= 2 lambda^{1/4} + b_0 + b_1 lambda^{-1/4} + b_3 lambda^{-3/4} +..., where b_0 and b_1 are rational while b_3 is transcendental containing zeta(3). Explicitly, we argue that b_0= Delta_0 - 4 (where Delta_0 is the canonical dimension of the corresponding gauge-theory operator in the Konishi multiplet) and b_1=1. Our conclusions are sensitive to few assumptions, implied by a correspondence with flat-space expressions, on how to translate semiclassical quantization results into predictions for the exact quantum string spectrum., Comment: 33 pages, Latex v2: minor comments added, misprints corrected v3: misprint corrected v4: misprints corrected

We consider the Pohlmeyer-reduced formulation of the AdS_5 x S^5 superstring. It is constructed by introducing new variables which are algebraically related to supercoset current components so that the Virasoro conditions are automatically solved. The reduced theory is a gauged WZW model supplemented with an integrable potential and fermionic terms that ensure its UV finiteness. The original superstring theory and its reduced counterpart are closely related at the classical level, and we conjecture that they remain related at the quantum level as well, in the sense that their quantum partition functions evaluated on respective classical solutions are equal. We provide evidence for the validity of this conjecture at the one-loop level, i.e. at the first non-trivial order of the semiclassical expansion near several classes of classical solutions., Comment: 44 pages. v2: references added

We consider the Pohlmeyer-type reduced theory found by explicitly solving the Virasoro constraints in the formulation of AdS_5xS^5 superstring in terms of supercoset currents. The resulting set of classically equivalent, integrable Lagrangian equations of motion has the advantage of involving only a physical number of degrees of freedom and yet being 2d Lorentz invariant. The corresponding reduced theory action may be written as a gauged WZW model coupled to fermions with further bosonic and fermionic potential terms. Since the AdS_5xS^5 superstring sigma model is conformally invariant, its classical relation to the reduced theory may extend to the quantum level only if the latter is, in fact, UV finite. This theory is power counting renormalizable with the only possible divergences being of potential type. We explicitly verify its 1-loop finiteness and show that the 2-loop divergences are, in general, scheme dependent and vanish in dimensional reduction scheme. We expect that the reduced theory is finite to all orders in the loop expansion., Comment: 40 pages, Latex; v2: typos corrected, minor clarifying remarks added

We study a class of classical solutions for closed strings moving in AdS_3 x S^1 part of AdS_5 x S^5 with energy E and spin S in AdS_3 and angular momentum J and winding m in S^1. They have rigid shape with n spikes in AdS_3. We find that when J or m are non-zero, the spikes do not end in cusps. We consider in detail a special large n limit in which S ~ n^2, J ~ n, i.e. S >> J >> 1, with (E+S)/ n^2, (E-S)/ n, J/n, m/n staying finite. In that limit the spiky spinning string approaches the boundary of AdS_5. We show that the corresponding solution can be interpreted as describing a periodic-spike string moving in AdS_3 --pp-wave x S^1 background. The resulting expression for the string energy should represent a strong-coupling prediction for anomalous dimension of a class of dual gauge theory states in a particular thermodynamic limit of the SL(2) spin chain., Comment: 34 pages, 4 figures; v2: references added; v3: typos corrected

We elaborate on the suggestion made in arXiv:0806.3498 that the 3d \N=8 superconformal SU(N) Chern-Simons-matter theory of Lorentzian Bagger-Lambert-Gustavson type (L-BLG) can be obtained by a scaling limit (involving sending the level k to infinity and redefining the fields) from the \N=6 superconformal U(N)xU(N) Chern-Simons-matter theory of Aharony, Bergman, Jafferis and Maldacena (ABJM). We show that to implement such a limit in a consistent way one is to extend the ABJM theory by an abelian "ghost" multiplet. The corresponding limit at the 3-algebra level also requires extending the non-antisymmetric Bagger-Lambert 3-algebra underlying the ABJM theory by a negative-norm generator. We draw analogy with similar scaling limits discussed previously for bosonic Chern-Simons theory and comment on some implications of this relation between the ABJM and L-BLG theories., Comment: 16 pages; published version - reference added, minor corrections

The anomalous dimensions of planar N=4 SYM theory operators like tr(Phi D^S Phi) expanded in large spin S have the asymptotics \gamma= f ln S + f_c + 1/S (f_11 ln S + f_10) + ..., where f (the universal scaling function or cusp anomaly), f_c and f_mn are given by power series in the `t Hooft coupling \lambda. The subleading coefficients appear to be related by the so called functional relation and parity invariance (or reciprocity) property of the function expressing \gamma in terms of the conformal spin of the collinear group. Here we study the structure of such large spin expansion at strong coupling via AdS/CFT, i.e. by using the dual description in terms of folded spinning string in AdS_5. The large spin expansion of the classical string energy happens to have the same structure as that of \gamma in the perturbative gauge theory. Moreover, the functional relation and the reciprocity constraints on the coefficients are also satisfied. We compute the leading string 1-loop corrections to the coefficients f_c, f_11, f_10 and verify the functional/reciprocity relations at subleading \lambda^{-1/2} order. This provides a strong indication that these relations hold not only in weak coupling (gauge-theory) but also in strong coupling (string-theory) perturbative expansions., Comment: 43 pages. v2: minor comments added, misprints corrected; v3: one-loop coefficients are expressed in terms of one constant not fixed by our method of computation, conclusion about parity invariance is unchanged, note added; v4: minor correctionsin eq (3.34) and below (3.37)

Recently, an asymptotic Bethe Ansatz that is claimed to describe anomalous dimensions of "long" operators in the planar N=6 supersymmetric three-dimensional Chern-Simons-matter theory dual to quantum superstrings in AdS_4 x CP^3 was proposed. It initially passed a few consistency checks but subsequent direct comparison to one-loop string-theory computations created some controversy. Here we suggest a resolution by pointing out that, contrary to the initial assumption based on the algebraic curve considerations, the central interpolating function h(\lambda) entering the BMN or magnon dispersion relation receives a non-zero one-loop correction in the natural string-theory computational scheme. We consider a basic example which has already played a key role in the AdS_5 x S^5 case: a rigid circular string stretched in both AdS_4 and along an S^1 of CP^3 and carrying two spins. Computing the leading one-loop quantum correction to its energy allows us to fix the constant one-loop term in h(\lambda) and also to suggest how one may establish a correspondence with the Bethe Ansatz proposal, including the non-trivial one-loop phase factor. We discuss some problems which remain in trying to match a part of world-sheet contributions (sensitive to compactness of the string direction) and their Bethe Ansatz counterparts., Comment: 37 pages; v2: references added and typos fixed

We give an elementary introduction to classical and quantum bosonic string theory., Comment: 38 p., 21 fig. Lectures at Dynasty 2006 School in Protvino. v2,v3: misprints corrected, footnotes with references added

We discuss 2d duality transformations in the classical AdS5 x S5 superstring and their effect on the integrable structure. T-duality along four directions in Poincare parametrization of AdS5 maps the bosonic part of the superstring action into itself. On bosonic level, this duality may be understood as a symmetry of the first-order (phase space) system of equations for the coset components of the current. The associated Lax connection is invariant modulo the action of an so(2,4)-automorphism. We then show that this symmetry extends to the full superstring, provided one supplements the transformation of the bosonic components of the current with a transformation on the fermionic ones. At the level of the action, this symmetry can be seen by combining the bosonic duality transformation with a similar one applied to part of the fermionic superstring coordinates. As a result, the full superstring action is mapped into itself, albeit in a different kappa-symmetry gauge. One implication is that the dual model has the same superconformal symmetry group as the original one, and this may be seen as a consequence of the integrability of the superstring. The invariance of the Lax connection under the duality implies a map on the full set of conserved charges that should interchange some of the Noether (local) charges with hidden (non-local) ones and vice versa., Comment: V2: 33 pages, clarifications added and minor corrections, replaced with version to appear in PRD

Motivated by desire to shed light on the strong coupling behaviour of anomalous dimensions of "short" gauge theory operators we consider the famous example of folded spinning string in AdS_5 in the limit of small semiclassical spin parameter \S = S/sqrt[lambda]. In this limit the string becomes short and is moving in a near-flat central region of AdS_5. Its energy scales with spin as E = sqrt[2 S] [ a_0 + a_1 S + a_2 S^2 + ...]. We explicitly compute the leading 1-loop quantum AdS_5 x S^5 superstring corrections to the short-string limit coefficients a_0 and a_1 and show, in particular, that a_1 receives a contribution containing \zeta(3)., Comment: 27 pages; v2: comments and appendix B about regularization ambiguity added; v3,4: minor corrections; v5: treatment of fermionic contribution corrected, a new appendix and a note added

We review the Pohlmeyer reduction procedure of the superstring sigma model on AdS_n x S^n leading to a gauged WZW model with an integrable potential coupled to 2d fermions. In particular, we consider the case of the Green-Schwarz superstring on AdS_3 x S^3 supported by RR flux. The bosonic part of the reduced model is given by the sum of the complex sine-Gordon Lagrangian and its sinh-Gordon counterpart. We determine the corresponding fermionic part and discuss possible existence of hidden 2d supersymmetry in the reduced action. We also elaborate on some general aspects of the Pohlmeyer reduction applied to the AdS_5 x S^5 superstring., Comment: 24 pages

We consider rigid rotating closed strings with spikes in AdS5 dual to certain higher twist operators in N=4 SYM theory. In the limit of large spin when the spikes reach the boundary of AdS5, the solutions with different numbers of spikes are related by conformal transformations, implying that their energy is determined by the same function of the `t Hooft coupling f(lambda) that appears in the anomalous dimension of twist 2 operators or in the cusp anomaly. In the limit when the number of spikes goes to infinity, we find an equivalent description in terms of a string moving in an AdS pp-wave background. From the boundary theory point of view, the corresponding description is based on the gauge theory living in a 4d pp-wave space. Then, considering a charge moving at the speed of light, or a null Wilson line, we find that the integrated energy momentum tensor has a logarithmic UV divergence whose coefficient we call the "pp-wave anomaly". The AdS/CFT correspondence implies that, for N=4 SYM, this pp-wave anomaly should have the same value as the cusp anomaly. We verify this at lowest order in SYM perturbation theory. As a side result of our string theory analysis, we find new open string solutions in the Poincare patch of the standard AdS space which end on a light-like Wilson line and also in two parallel light-like Wilson lines at the boundary., Comment: 28 pages, 2 eps figures, LaTeX. v2: typos corrected

We consider folded spinning strings in AdS_5xS^5 (with one spin component S in AdS_5 and J in S^5) corresponding to the Tr(D^S Z^J) operators in the sl(2) sector of the N=4 SYM theory in the special scaling limit in which both the string mass M ~ \sqrt \lambda \ln S and J are sent to infinity with their ratio fixed. Expanding in the parameter \el= J/M we compute the 2-loop string sigma model correction to the string energy and show that it agrees with the expression proposed by Alday and Maldacena in arxiv:0708.0672. We suggest that a resummation of the logarithmic \el^2 \ln^n \el terms is necessary in order to establish an interpolation to the weakly coupled gauge theory results. In the process, we set up a general framework for the calculation of higher loop corrections to the energy of multi-spin string configurations. In particular, we find that in addition to the direct 2-loop term in the string energy there is a contribution from lower loop order due to a finite ``renormalization'' of the relation between the parameters of the classical solution and the fixed spins, i.e. the charges of the SO(2,4) x SO(6) symmetry., Comment: 31 pages, Latex. v2:minor corrections; few comments and references added v3: typos corrected

We discuss an interplay between T-duality and integrability for certain classical non-linear sigma models. In particular, we consider strings on the AdS_5 x S^5 background and perform T-duality along the four isometry directions of AdS_5 in the Poincare patch. The T-dual of the AdS_5 sigma model is again a sigma model on an AdS_5 space. This classical T-duality relation was used in the recently uncovered connection between light-like Wilson loops and MHV gluon scattering amplitudes in the strong coupling limit of the AdS/CFT duality. We show that the explicit coordinate dependence along the T-duality directions of the associated Lax connection (flat current) can be eliminated by means of a field dependent gauge transformation. As a result, the gauge equivalent Lax connection can easily be T-dualized, i.e. written in terms of the dual set of isometric coordinates. The T-dual Lax connection can be used for the derivation of infinitely many conserved charges in the T-dual model. Our construction implies that local (Noether) charges of the original model are mapped to non-local charges of the T-dual model and vice versa., Comment: 20 pages; v2: misprints corrected, references and minor clarifications added

Motivated by a desire to find a useful 2d Lorentz-invariant reformulation of the AdS_5 x S^5 superstring world-sheet theory in terms of physical degrees of freedom we construct the Pohlmeyer-reduced version of the corresponding sigma model. The Pohlmeyer reduction procedure involves several steps. Starting with a coset space string sigma model in the conformal gauge and writing the classical equations in terms of currents one can fix the residual conformal diffeomorphism symmetry and kappa-symmetry and introduce a new set of variables (related locally to currents but non-locally to the original string coordinate fields) so that the Virasoro constraints are automatically satisfied. The resulting gauge-fixed equations can be obtained from a Lagrangian of a non-abelian Toda type: a gauged WZW model with an integrable potential coupled also to a set of 2d fermionic fields. A gauge-fixed form of the Pohlmeyer-reduced theory can be found by integrating out the 2d gauge field of the gauged WZW model. Its small-fluctuation spectrum contains 8 bosonic and 8 fermionic degrees of freedom with equal masses. We conjecture that the reduced model has world-sheet supersymmetry and is ultraviolet-finite. We show that in the special case of the AdS_2 x S^2 superstring model the reduced theory is indeed supersymmetric: it is equivalent to the N=2 supersymmetric extension of the sine-Gordon model., Comment: 56 pages. v2: section 6.4 expanded with comments on mass spectrum and the corresponding S-matrix; v3,v4: minor corrections and clarifications added

We consider the world surface in AdS_5 that ends on two intersecting null lines at the boundary. The corresponding string partition function describes the expectation value of the Wilson line with a null cusp in dual large N maximally supersymmetric gauge theory and thus determines the cusp anomaly function f(\lambda) of the gauge coupling. The first two coefficients in its strong-coupling or string inverse tension expansion were determined in hep-th/0210115 (a_1=1) and in arXiv:0707.4254 (a_2=- 3 log 2). Here we find that the 2-loop coefficient is a_2 = - K where K is the Catalan's constant. This is in agreement (expected on general grounds) with the previous results for f(\lambda) as the coefficient of log(S) term in the energy of closed spinning string in AdS_5. The string theory value for a_2 is in agreement with the numerical result in hep-th/0611135 and the recent analytic result in arXiv:0708.3933 for the solution of the BES equation following from the asymptotic Bethe ansatz for the spectrum of the theory. We explicitly verify the cancellation of 2-loop 2d logarithmic divergences thus demonstrating the quantum consistency of the AdS_5 x S^5 superstring. We also discuss the structure of higher loop string corrections to the cusp anomaly giving a 2d QFT diagrammatic interpretation to the strong-coupling expansion of the cusp anomaly function as solution of the BES equation found in arXiv:0708.3933., Comment: 22 pages, 3 figures. v2: a footnote added, misprints corrected. v3: minor corrections, references added. v4:minor correction (footnote 23 rephrased)

An important ``observable'' of planar N=4 SYM theory is the scaling function f(lambda) that appears in the anomalous dimension of large spin twist 2 operators and also in the cusp anomaly of light-like Wilson loops. The non-trivial relation between the anomalous dimension and the Wilson interpretations of f(lambda) is well-understood on the perturbative gauge theory side of the AdS/CFT duality. In the first part of this paper we present the dual string-theory counterpart of this relation, to all orders in lambda^(-1/2) expansion. As a check, we explicitly compute the leading 1-loop string sigma model correction to the cusp Wilson loop, reproducing the same subleading coefficient in f(lambda) as found earlier in the spinning closed string case. The same function f(lambda) appears also in the resummed form of the 4-gluon amplitude as discussed at weak coupling by Bern, Dixon and Smirnov and recently found at the leading order at strong coupling by Alday and Maldacena (AM). Here we attempt to extend this approach to subleading order in lambda^(-1/2) by computing the IR singular part of 1-loop string correction to the corresponding T-dual Wilson loop. We discuss explicitly the 1-cusp case and comment on apparent problems with the dimensional regularization proposal of AM when directly applied order by order in strong coupling (inverse string tension) expansion., Comment: 35 pages. v2: minor corrections, references added

We initiate the computation of the 2-loop quantum AdS_5 x S^5 string corrections on the example of a certain string configuration in S^5 related by an analytic continuation to a folded rotating string in AdS_5 in the ``long string'' limit. The 2-loop term in the energy of the latter should represent the subleading strong-coupling correction to the cusp anomalous dimension and thus provide a further check of recent conjectures about the exact structure of the Bethe ansatz underlying the AdS/CFT duality. We use the conformal gauge and several choices of the \kappa-symmetry gauge. While we are unable to verify the cancellation of 2d UV divergences we compute the bosonic contribution to the effective action and also determine the non-trivial finite part of the fermionic contribution. Both the bosonic and the fermionic contributions to the string energy happen to be proportional to the Catalan's constant. The resulting value for 2-loop superstring prediction for the subleading coefficient a_2 in the scaling function matches the numerical value found in hep-th/0611135 from the BES equation., Comment: 48 pages, 1 Figure. v3: several mistakes corrected, the finite result for the 2-loop coefficient is found to agree with the numerical value found by Benna et al in hep-th/0611135

Zamolodchikov's c-theorem type argument (and also string theory effective action constructions) imply that the RG flow in 2d sigma model should be gradient one to all loop orders. However, the monotonicity of the flow of the target-space metric is not obvious since the metric on the space of metric-dilaton couplings is indefinite. To leading (one-loop) order when the RG flow is simply the Ricci flow the monotonicity was proved by Perelman (math.dg/0211159) by constructing an ``entropy'' functional which is essentially the metric-dilaton action extremised with respect to the dilaton with a condition that the target-space volume is fixed. We discuss how to generalize the Perelman's construction to all loop orders (i.e. all orders in \alpha'). The resulting ``entropy'' is equal to minus the central charge at the fixed points, in agreement with the general claim of the c-theorem., Comment: 14 pages. v2: minor comments added, misprints corrected

We compute 1-loop correction E_1 to the energy of folded string in AdS_5 x S^5 (carrying spin S in AdS_5 and momentum J in S^5) using ``long string'' approximation in which S >> J >> 1. According to AdS/CFT E_1 should represent the first subleading correction to strong coupling expansion of anomalous dimension of higher twist SL(2) sector operators of the form Tr D^S Z^J. We show that E_1 smoothly interpolates between the ln S regime (previously found in the J=0 case) and the \lambda/J^2 ln^3 (S/J) regime (which is the leading correction to the thermodynamic limit on the spin chain side). This supports the universality of the ln S scaling. As in previous work, we also find ``non-analytic'' corrections related to non-trivial 1-loop phase in the corresponding Bethe ansatz S-matrix., Comment: 17 pages; 1 figure; v3: minor rephrasing; misprints corrected

Recently, classical solutions for strings moving in AdS5 x S5 have played an important role in understanding the AdS/CFT correspondence. A large set of them were shown to follow from an ansatz that reduces the solution of the string equations of motion to the study of a well-known integrable 1-d system known as the Neumann-Rosochatius (NR) system. However, other simple solutions such as spiky strings or giant magnons in S5 were not included in the NR ansatz. We show that, when considered in the conformal gauge, these solutions can be also accomodated by a version of the NR-system. This allows us to describe in detail a giant magnon solution with two additional angular momenta and show that it can be interpreted as a superposition of two magnons moving with the same speed. In addition, we consider the spin chain side and describe the corresponding state as that of two bound states in the infinite SU(3) spin chain. We construct the Bethe ansatz wave function for such bound state., Comment: 33 pages, LaTeX, 2 figures. v2: minor corrections, v3: minor corrections, figures enlarged

Motivated by recent works of Hofman and Maldacena and Dorey we consider a special infinite spin limit of semiclassical spinning string states in AdS5 x S5. We discuss examples of known folded and circular 2-spin string solutions and demonstrate explicitly that the 1-loop superstring correction to the classical expression for the energy vanishes in the limit when one of the spins is much larger that the other. We also give a general discussion of this limit at the level of integral equations describing finite gap solutions of the string sigma model and argue that the corresponding asymptotic form of the string and gauge Bethe equations is the same., Comment: 38 pages, 3 figures; v2: comments on derivation of bound states of magnons from discrete Bethe equations added in section 4 and appendix C, references added, Imperial-TP-AT-6-4, HUTP-06/A0024

Motivated by the desire to relate Bethe ansatz equations for anomalous dimensions found on the gauge theory side of the AdS/CFT correspondence to superstring theory on AdS_5 x S5 we explore a connection between the asymptotic S-matrix that enters the Bethe ansatz and an effective two-dimensional quantum field theory. The latter generalizes the standard ``non-relativistic'' Landau-Lifshitz (LL) model describing low-energy modes of ferromagnetic Heisenberg spin chain and should be related to a limit of superstring effective action. We find the exact form of the quartic interaction terms in the generalized LL type action whose quantum S-matrix matches the low-energy limit of the asymptotic S-matrix of the spin chain of Beisert, Dippel and Staudacher (BDS). This generalises to all orders in the `t Hooft coupling an earlier computation of Klose and Zarembo of the S-matrix of the standard LL model. We also consider a generalization to the case when the spin chain S-matrix contains an extra ``string'' phase and determine the exact form of the LL 4-vertex corresponding to the low-energy limit of the ansatz of Arutyunov, Frolov and Staudacher (AFS). We explain the relation between the resulting ``non-relativistic'' non-local action and the second-derivative string sigma model. We comment on modifications introduced by strong-coupling corrections to the AFS phase. We mostly discuss the SU(2) sector but also present generalizations to the SL(2) and SU(1|1) sectors, confirming universality of the dressing phase contribution by matching the low-energy limit of the AFS-type spin chain S-matrix with tree-level string-theory S-matrix., Comment: 52 pages, 4 figures, Imperial-TP-AT-6-2; v2: new sections 7.3 and 7.4 computing string tree-level S-matrix in SL(2) and SU(1|1) sectors, references added

We consider the highest-energy state in the su(1|1) sector of N=4 super Yang-Mills theory containing operators of the form tr(Z^{L-M} \psi^M) where Z is a complex scalar and \psi is a component of gaugino. We show that this state corresponds to the operator tr(\psi^L) and can be viewed as an analogue of the antiferromagnetic state in the su(2) sector. We find perturbative expansions of the energy of this state in both weak and strong 't Hooft coupling regimes using asymptotic gauge theory Bethe ansatz equations. We also discuss a possible analog of this state in the conjectured string Bethe ansatz equations., Comment: 23 pages, Latex

We discuss a slow-moving limit of a rigid circular equal-spin solution on R x S^3. We suggest that the solution with the winding number equal to the total spin approximates the quantum string state dual to the maximal-dimension ``antiferromagnetic'' state of the SU(2) spin chain on the gauge theory side. An expansion of the string action near this solution leads to a weakly coupled system of a sine-Gordon model and a free field. We show that a similar effective Hamiltonian appears in a certain continuum limit from the half-filled Hubbard model that was recently suggested to describe the all-order dilatation operator of the dual gauge theory in the SU(2) sector. We also discuss some other slow-string solutions with one spin component in AdS_5 and one in S^5., Comment: 32 pages, Latex v2: one footnote and references added

In a previous paper (hep-th/0509071), it was shown that quantum 1/J corrections to the BMN spectrum in an effective Landau-Lifshitz (LL) model match with the results from the one-loop gauge theory, provided one chooses an appropriate regularization. In this paper we continue this study for the conjectured Bethe ansatz for the long range spin chain representing perturbative planar N=4 Super Yang-Mills in the SU(2) sector, and the ``quantum string" Bethe ansatz for its string dual. The comparison is carried out for corrections to BMN energies up to 3rd order in the effective expansion parameter $\tl=\lambda/J^2$. After determining the ``gauge-theory'' LL action to order $\tl^3$, which is accomplished indirectly by fixing the coefficients in the LL action so that the energies of circular strings match with the energies found using the Bethe ansatz, we find perfect agreement. We interpret this as further support for an underlying integrability of the system. We then consider the ``string-theory'' LL action which is a limit of the classical string action representing fast string motion on an S^3 subspace of S^5 and compare the resulting $\tl^3/J^2$ corrections to the prediction of the ``string'' Bethe ansatz. As in the gauge case, we find precise matching. This indicates that the LL Hamiltonian supplemented with a normal ordering prescription and zeta-function regularization reproduces the full superstring result for the $1/J^2$ corrections, and also signifies that the string Bethe ansatz does describe the quantum BMN string spectrum to order $1/J^2$. We also comment on using the quantum LL approach to determine the non-analytic contributions in $\lambda$ that are behind the strong to weak coupling interpolation between the string and gauge results., Comment: 36 pages, v2: new Appendix C on non-analytic terms in the circular solution example added, v3: typos corrected

Recently, it was demonstrated that one-loop energy shifts of spinning superstrings on AdS5xS5 agree with certain Bethe equations for quantum strings at small effective coupling. However, the string result required artificial regularization by zeta-function. Here we show that this matching is indeed correct up to fourth order in effective coupling; beyond, we find new contributions at odd powers. We show that these are reproduced by quantum corrections within the Bethe ansatz. They might also identify the "three-loop discrepancy" between string and gauge theory as an order-of-limits effect., Comment: 12 pages, v2, v3: minor corrections, footnotes and references added, v3: to appear in Phys. Lett. B

One way to relate semiclassical string states and dual gauge theory states is to show the equivalence between their low-energy effective 2d actions. The gauge theory effective action, which is represented by an effective Landau-Lifshitz (LL) model, was previously found to match with the string theory world-sheet action up to the first two orders in the effective parameter $\tilde{\lambda} ={\lambda / J^2}$, where $\lambda$ is the `t Hooft coupling and $J$ is the total $R$-charge. Here we address the question if quantizing the effective LL action reproduces the subleading 1/J corrections to the spin chain energies as well as the quantum corrections to the string energies. We demonstrate that this is indeed the case provided one chooses an appropriate regularization of the effective LL theory. Expanding near the BPS vacuum, we show that the quantum LL action gives the same 1/J corrections to energies of BMN states as found previously on the gauge theory and string theory sides. We also compute the subleading $1/J^2$ corrections and show that these too match with corrections computed from the Bethe ansatz. We also compare the results from the LL action with a more direct computation from the spin chain. We repeat the same computation for the $\beta$-deformed LL action and find that the quantum LL result is again equal to the 1/J correction computed from the $\beta$-deformed Bethe ansatz equations. We also quantize the LL action near the rotating circular and folded string solutions, generalizing the known gauge/string results for 1/J corrections to the classical energies. We emphasize the simplicity of this effective field theory approach as compared to the full quantum string computations., Comment: 52 pages, references added

We compute the one-loop effective action in \N=1 conformal SU(N) gauge theory which is an exactly marginal deformation of the \N=4 SYM theory. We consider an abelian background of constant \N = 1 gauge field and single chiral scalar. While for finite N the effective action depends non-trivially on the deformation parameter \beta, this dependence disappears in the large N limit if the parameter \beta is real. This conclusion matches the strong-coupling prediction coming from the form of a D3-brane probe action in the dual supergravity background: for the simplest choice of the D3-brane position the probe action happens to be the same as for a D3-brane in AdS_5 x S^5 placed parallel to the boundary of AdS_5. This suggests that in the real \beta deformation case there exists a large N non-renormalization theorem for the 4-derivative term in the action., Comment: 15 pages, no figures. V2: comments, reference added. V3: the version to appear in PRD

We consider a non-supersymmetric example of the AdS/CFT duality which generalizes the supersymmetric exactly marginal deformation constructed in hep-th/0502086. The string theory background we use was found in hep-th/0503201 from the AdS_5 x S5 by a combination of T-dualities and shifts of angular coordinates. It depends on three real parameters gamma_i which determine the shape of the deformed 5-sphere. The dual gauge theory has the same field content as N=4 SYM theory, but with scalar and Yukawa interactions ``deformed'' by gamma_i-dependent phases. The special case of equal deformation parameters gamma_i=gamma corresponds to the N=1 supersymmetric deformation. We compare the energies of semiclassical strings with three large angular momenta to the 1-loop anomalous dimensions of the corresponding gauge-theory scalar operators and find that they match as it was the case in the SU(3) sector of the standard AdS/CFT duality. In the supersymmetric case of equal gamma_i this extends the result of our previous work (hep-th/0503192) from the 2-spin to the 3-spin sector. This extension turns out to be quite nontrivial. To match the corresponding low-energy effective ``Landau-Lifshitz'' actions on the string theory and the gauge theory sides one is to make a special choice of the spin chain Hamiltonian representing the 1-loop gauge theory dilatation operator. This choice is adapted to low-energy approximation, i.e. it allows one to capture the right vacuum states and the macroscopic spin wave sector of states of the spin chain in the continuum coherent state effective action., Comment: 43 pages, Latex; v2:Discussion of 0-modes improved in section 2, Appendix B expanded to demonstrate agreement between gauge and string theory for 0-mode fluctuations; references added; v3: Modification to the discussion on the U(1) factor in sec.4.4

We consider circular strings rotating with equal spins S_1=S_2=S in two orthogonal planes in AdS_5 and suggest that they may be dual to "long" gauge theory operators built out of self-dual components of gauge field strength. As was found in hep-th/0404187, the one-loop anomalous dimensions of the such gauge-theory operators are described by an anti-ferromagnetic XXX_1 spin chain and scale linearly with length L>>1. We find that in the case of rigid rotating string both the classical energy E_0 and the 1-loop string correction E_1 depend linearly on the spin S (within the stability region of the solution). This supports the relation between the rigid rotating string and the gauge-theory operator corresponding to the maximal-spin (ferromagnetic) state of the XXX_1 spin chain. The energy of more general rotating and pulsating strings also happens to scale linearly with both the spin and the oscillation number. Such solutions should be dual to other lower-spin states of the spin chain, with the anti-ferromagnetic ground state presumably corresponding to the string pulsating in two planes with no rotation., Comment: 24 pages, 3 figures, v2: typos corrected; v3: misprint in eq.(2.15) corrected

We analyze in detail the relation between an exactly marginal deformation of N=4 SYM - the Leigh-Strassler or ``beta-deformation'' - and its string theory dual (recently constructed in hep-th/0502086) by comparing energies of semiclassical strings to anomalous dimensions of gauge-theory operators in the two-scalar sector. We stress the existence of integrable structures on the two sides of the duality. In particular, we argue that the integrability of strings in AdS_5 x S^5 implies the integrability of the deformed world sheet theory with real deformation parameter. We compare the fast string limit of the worldsheet action in the sector with two angular momenta with the continuum limit of the coherent state action of an anisotropic XXZ spin chain describing the one-loop anomalous dimensions of the corresponding operators and find a remarkable agreement for all values of the deformation parameter. We discuss some of the properties of the Bethe Ansatz for this spin chain, solve the Bethe equations for small number of excitations and comment on higher loop properties of the dilatation operator. With the goal of going beyond the leading order in the 't Hooft expansion we derive the analog of the Bethe equations on the string-theory side, and show that they coincide with the thermodynamic limit of the Bethe equations for the spin chain. We also compute the 1/J corrections to the anomalous dimensions of operators with large R-charge (corresponding to strings with angular momentum J) and match them to the 1-loop corrections to the fast string energies. Our results suggest that the impressive agreement between the gauge theory and semiclassical strings in AdS_5 x S^5 is part of a larger picture underlying the gauge/gravity duality., Comment: 50 pages, Latex; v2:typos corrected, references added, clarifications in sec 8 and Appendix A, a discussion of a rational solution added in section 4.2; v3: minor corrections to coefficients in eq. 2.5, 5.2 and appendix A; v4: minor misprints corrected

We consider a generalization of the leading-order matching of coherent state actions for semiclassical states on the super Yang-Mills and the superstring sides of the AdS/CFT duality to sectors with fermions. In particular, we discuss the $SU(1|1)$ and $SU(2|3)$ sectors containing states with angular momentum $J$ in $S^5$ and spin in $AdS_5$. On the SYM side, we start with the dilatation operator in the $SU(2|3)$ sector having super spin chain Hamiltonian interpretation and derive the corresponding coherent state action which is quartic in fermions. This action has essentially the same ``Landau-Lifshitz'' form as the action in the bosonic SU(3) sector with the target space $CP^2$ replaced by the projective superspace $CP^{2|2}$. We then attempt to relate it to the corresponding truncation of the full $AdS_5 \times S^5$ superstring action written in a light-cone gauge where it has simple quartic fermionic structure. In particular, we find that part of the superstring action describing $SU(1|1)$ sector reduces to an action of a massive two-dimensional relativistic fermion, with the expansion in the effective coupling $\lambda/J^2$ being equivalent to a non-relativistic expansion., Comment: 33 pages, LaTeX

We explore integrability properties of superstring equations of motion in AdS_5 x S^5. We impose light-cone kappa-symmetry and reparametrization gauges and construct a Lax representation for the corresponding Hamiltonian dynamics on subspace of physical superstring degrees of freedom. We present some explicit results for the corresponding conserved charges by consistently reducing the dynamics to AdS_3 x S^3 and AdS_3 x S^1 subsectors containing both bosonic and fermionic fields., Comment: JHEP style, 32 pages; v2: refined discussion of monodromy, refs added

We compare quantum corrections to semiclassical spinning strings in AdS(5)xS(5) to one-loop anomalous dimensions in N=4 supersymmetric gauge theory. The latter are computed using the reduced (Landau-Lifshitz) sigma model and with the help of the Bethe ansatz. The results of all three approaches are in remarkable agreement with each other. As a byproduct we establish the relationship between linear instabilities in the Landau-Lifshitz model and analyticity properties of the Bethe ansatz., Comment: 23 pages. v2: references added, v3: misprints corrected and references added

We consider a circular string with spin $S$ in $AdS_5$ wrapped around big circle of $S^5$ and carrying also momentum $J$. The corresponding N=4 SYM operator belongs to the SL(2) sector, i.e. has tr$(D^S Z^J)+...$ structure. The leading large $J$ term in its 1-loop anomalous dimension can be computed using Bethe ansatz for the SL(2) spin chain and was previously found to match the leading term in the classical string energy. The string solution is stable at large $J$, and the Lagrangian for string fluctuations has constant coefficients, so that the 1-loop string correction to the energy $E_1$ is given simply by the sum of characteristic frequencies. Curiously, we find that the leading term in the zero-mode part of $E_1$ is the same as a 1/J correction to the one-loop anomalous dimension on the gauge theory (spin chain) side that was found in hep-th/0410105. However, the contribution of non-zero string modes does not vanish. We also discuss the ``fast string'' expansion of the classical string action which coincides with the coherent state action of the SL(2) spin chain at the first order in $\l$, and extend this expansion to higher orders clarifying the role of the $S^5$ winding number., Comment: 31 pages, 1 figure, latex; v3: minor changes and corrections

We discuss AdS/CFT duality in the sector of ``semiclassical'' string states with large quantum numbers. We review the coherent-state effective action approach, in which similar 2d sigma model actions appear from the AdS_5 x S^5 string action and from the integrable spin chain Hamiltonian representing the N=4 super Yang-Mills dilatation operator. We consider mostly the leading-order terms in the energies/anomalous dimensions which match but comment also on higher-order corrections., Comment: 34 pages. Contribution to Proceedings of Cargese Summer School, June 7-19, 2004, extended version of hep-th/0407218

We revisit the computation (hep-th/0306130) of 1-loop AdS_5 x S^5 superstring sigma model correction to energy of a closed circular string rotating in S^5. The string is spinning around its center of mass with two equal angular momenta J_2=J_3 and its center of mass angular momentum is J_1. We revise the argument in hep-th/0306130 that the 1-loop correction is suppressed by 1/J factor (J= J_1 + 2 J_2 is the total SO(6) spin) relative to the classical term in the energy and use numerical methods to compute the leading 1-loop coefficient. The corresponding gauge theory result is known (hep-th/0405055) only in the J_1=0 limit when the string solution becomes unstable and thus the 1-loop shift of the energy formally contains an imaginary part. While the comparison with gauge theory may not be well-defined in this case, our numerical string theory value of the 1-loop coefficient seems to disagree with the gauge theory one. A plausible explanation should be (as in hep-th/0405001) in the different order of limits taken on the gauge theory and the string theory sides of the AdS/CFT duality., Comment: 21 pages, 8 figures

We review recent progress in checking AdS/CFT duality in the sector of ''semiclassical'' string states dual to ''long'' scalar operators of N=4 super Yang-Mills theory. In particular, we discuss the effective action approach, in which the same sigma model type action describing coherent states is shown to emerge from the AdS_5 x S^5 string action and from the spin chain Hamiltonian representing the SYM dilatation operator., Comment: 21 pages. Based on talks at Workshop on Continuous Advances in QCD 2004, Minneapolis, May 13-16 and Strings 2004, Paris, June 28 - July 2. v2: misprints corrected

We consider the low energy effective action corresponding to the 1-loop, planar, dilatation operator in the scalar sector of N=4 SU(N) SYM theory. For a general class of non-holomorphic ``long'' operators, of bare dimension L>>1, it is a sigma model action with 8-dimensional target space and agrees with a limit of the phase-space string sigma model action describing generic fast-moving strings in the S^5 part of AdS_5 x S^5. The limit of the string action is taken in a way that allows for a systematic expansion to higher orders in the effective coupling $\lambda/L^2$. This extends previous work on rigid rotating strings in S^5 (dual to operators in the SU(3) sector of the dilatation operator) to the case when string oscillations or pulsations in S^5 are allowed. We establish a map between the profile of the leading order string solution and the structure of the corresponding coherent, ``locally BPS'', SYM scalar operator. As an application, we explicitly determine the form of the non-holomorphic operators dual to the pulsating strings. Using action--angle variables, we also directly compute the energy of pulsating solutions, simplifying previous treatments., Comment: LaTeX, 50 pages, 1 figure. v2: References added, minor corrections. 54 pages. v3: Few changes. One paragraph added at the end of section 3. 55 pages

We investigate the structure of the dilatation operator D of planar N=4 SYM in the sector of single trace operators built out of two chiral combinations of the 6 scalars. Previous results at low orders in `t Hooft coupling \lambda suggest that D has the form of an SU(2) spin chain Hamiltonian with long range multiple spin interactions. Instead of the usual perturbative expansion in powers of \lambda, we split D into parts D^(n) according to the number n of independent pairwise interactions between spins at different sites. We determine the coefficients of spin-spin interaction terms in D^(1) by imposing the condition of regularity of a BMN-type scaling limit. For long spin chains, these coefficients turn out to be expressible in terms of hypergeometric functions of \lambda, which have regular expansions at both small and large values of \lambda. This suggest that anomalous dimensions of ``long'' operators in the two-scalar sector should generically scale as square root of \lambda at large coupling, i.e. in the same way as energies of semiclassical states in dual AdS5 x S5 string theory. We speculate that D^(1) may be a Hamiltonian of a new integrable spin chain., Comment: 20 pages, latex, no figures; v2: the expression in the case of the Konishi descendant simplified, additional explanations and references added

We consider AdS_5 x S^5 string states with several large angular momenta along AdS_5 and S^5 directions which are dual to single-trace Super-Yang-Mills (SYM) operators built out of chiral combinations of scalars and covariant derivatives. In particular, we focus on the SU(3) sector (with three spins in S^5) and the SL(2) sector (with one spin in AdS_5 and one in S^5), generalizing recent work hep-th/0311203 and hep-th/0403120 on the SU(2) sector with two spins in S^5. We show that, in the large spin limit and at the leading order in the effective coupling expansion, the string sigma model equations of motion reduce to matrix Landau-Lifshitz equations. We then demonstrate that the coherent-state expectation value of the one-loop SYM dilatation operator restricted to the corresponding sector of single trace operators is also effectively described by the same equations. This implies a universal leading order equivalence between string energies and SYM anomalous dimensions, as well as a matching of integrable structures. We also discuss the more general 5-spin sector and comment on SO(6) states dual to non-chiral scalar operators., Comment: 35 pages, LaTeX. v3 minor comments and one reference added. v4 an equivalent form of the action in sect. 5.1 added, misprints corrected

By considering AdS_5 x S^5 string states with large angular momenta in S^5 one is able to provide non-trivial quantitative checks of the AdS/CFT duality. A string rotating in S^5 with two angular momenta J_1,J_2 is dual to an operator in N=4 SYM theory whose conformal dimension can be computed by diagonalizing a (generalization of) spin 1/2 Heisenberg chain Hamiltonian. It was recently argued and verified to lowest order in a large J=J_1+J_2 expansion, that the Heisenberg chain can be described using a non-relativistic low energy effective 2-d action for a unit vector field n_i which exactly matches the corresponding large J limit of the classical AdS_5 x S^5 string action. In this paper we show that this agreement extends to the next order and develop a systematic procedure to compute higher orders in such large angular momentum expansion. This involves several non-trivial steps. On the string side, we need to choose a special gauge with a non-diagonal world-sheet metric which insures that the angular momentum is uniformly distributed along the string, as indeed is the case on the spin chain side. We need also to implement an order by order redefinition of the field n_i to get an action linear in the time derivative. On the spin chain side, it turns out to be crucial to include the effects of integrating out short wave-length modes. In this way we gain a better understanding of how (a subsector of) the string sigma model emerges from the dual gauge theory, allowing us to demonstrate the duality beyond comparing particular examples of states with large J., Comment: 49 pages. v2,v3: misprints and coefficients in eqs.(2.77),(2.89) corrected; comments about quadratic terms in the effective action added at the end of section 2.3 and section 3