Light-like polygonal Wilson loops in 3d Chern-Simons and ABJM theory

Apr, 2010
37 pages
Published in:
  • JHEP 08 (2010) 032,
  • JHEP 11 (2011) 053 (erratum)
e-Print:
Report number:
  • HU-EP-10-14

Citations per year

20102014201820222024051015
Abstract: (arXiv)
We study light-like polygonal Wilson loops in three-dimensional Chern-Simons and ABJM theory to two-loop order. For both theories we demonstrate that the one-loop contribution to these correlators cancels. For pure Chern-Simons, we find that specific UV divergences arise from diagrams involving two cusps, implying the loss of finiteness and topological invariance at two-loop order. Studying those UV divergences we derive anomalous conformal Ward identities for n-cusped Wilson loops which restrict the finite part of the latter to conformally invariant functions. We also compute the four-cusp Wilson loop in ABJM theory to two-loop order and find that the result is remarkably similar to that of the corresponding Wilson loop in N=4 SYM. Finally, we speculate about the existence of a Wilson loop/scattering amplitude relation in ABJM theory.
Note:
  • 37 pages, many figures; v2: references added, minor changes; v3: references added, sign error fixed and note added
  • AdS-CFT Correspondence
  • Chern-Simons Theories
  • Conformal and W Symmetry
  • invariance: topological
  • dimension: 3
  • ABJM model
  • Wilson loop
  • correlation function
  • Chern-Simons term
  • Ward identity