Superstrings on AdS3_{3} at k=\mathcal{k} = 1

Mar 12, 2018
24 pages
Published in:
  • JHEP 08 (2018) 204
  • Published: Aug 31, 2018
e-Print:
Report number:
  • Imperial-TP-2018-CH-01,
  • IMPERIAL-TP-2018-CH-01

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Abstract: (Springer)
We study superstring theory in three dimensional Anti-de Sitter spacetime with NS-NS flux, focusing on the case where the radius of curvature is equal to the string length. This corresponds to the critical level k = 1 in the formulation as a Wess-Zumino-Witten model. Previously, it was argued that a transition takes place at this special radius, from a phase dominated by black holes at larger radius to one dominated by long strings at smaller radius. We argue that the infinite tower of modes that become massless at k = 1 is a signal of this transition. We propose a simple two-dimensional conformal field theory as the holographic dual to superstring theory at k = 1. As evidence for our conjecture, we demonstrate that our putative dual exactly reproduces the full spectrum of the long strings of the weakly coupled string theory, including states unprotected by supersymmetry.
Note:
  • 29 pages, one figure. An equivalent construction of the dual orbifold CFT has been added, together with a discussion of the short string spectrum and additional observations on interactions
  • AdS-CFT Correspondence
  • Long strings
  • space-time: anti-de Sitter
  • field theory: conformal
  • duality: holography
  • string: length
  • dimension: 3
  • dimension: 2
  • superstring
  • expansion 1/N