AdS/CFT Take-Home Final due 8PM 18 Dec 2015

This homework is due at 8PM at my office (2L26) on 18 Dec 2015. You may hand it to me
in-person or use the assignment drop box outside if I am not there.
Allowed Materials: You may consult any of the on-line materials linked under the “Reading
Schedule” and “Homework Assignments” sections of the course website (assigned sections only),
as well as your graded homework assignments and any notes you took during our course meetings.
You may not consult other material or discuss your solutions with each other. I am available in
person the week of 14 Dec or by email at any time if you have questions.

You may find the metric for AdSd+1 in Poincaré coordinates useful:

L2 L2
ds2 = 2 µ ν
ηM N dxM dxN ,


dz + η µν dx dx = (1)
z2 (xd )2

where η may be either the Minkowski metric or Kronecker delta, depending on the signature you
prefer. In the latter equation z = xd . The boundary is at z = 0 (with a single “point at infinity”
z = ∞). Notationally, we will use Greek indices µ to run over boundary coordinates and capital
Latin indices M to run over all AdS coordinates, unless otherwise specified.

1. [5 points] Klebanov-Witten Gauge Theory and AdS5 × T1,1

We recall that the AdS/CFT correspondence is more precisely a duality between string theory
(or its low-energy gravity theory) on the product of an AdS spacetime with an Einstein manifold
(with total dimension 10) with a CFT determined by the choice of Einstein manifold.
Klebanov and Witten have argued that the CFT dual to string theory on AdS5 ×T 1,1 is a U (N )×
U (N ) gauge theory with 4 scalar fields called A1 , A2 , B1 , B2 (and associated fermions). These
4 scalar fields each have conformal scaling dimension ∆ = 3/4. For small ’t Hooft coupling,
the conformal dimension of a product of operators is the sum of the individual dimensions, so
an operator schematically of the form Ok = Tr(AB)k has dimension 3k/2.
The operator Ok is dual to some scalar field in an AdS5 gravity theory. In this case, our gravity
theory is type IIB supergravity on AdS5 × T 1,1 , and the scalar fields in the AdS5 theory are
given by separating variables on the 10D fields. For example, the 10D
P dilaton field gives rise to a
tower of scalar fields in AdS5 through the decomposition φ(x, y) = Φa (x)Y a (y), where Y a (y)
is a harmonic function on T 1,1 (akin to a spherical harmonic). The masses of the scalar fields
in AdS5 are given by the eigenvalues of the appropriate T 1,1 Laplacian operator. In general,
a tensor field in 10D leads to an AdS5 scalar when all its indices are along T 1,1 . The angular
momentum quantum numbers of the harmonic functions are j, l, r, where j, l = 0, 1/2, 1, 3/2, · · ·
(and are both either integer or half-integer) and r ranges from −2 min(j, l) to 2 min(j, l) in steps
of two.
Now we get to the problem. The fields dual to Ok are a linear combination of the metric
trace δg a a and the 4-form Cabcd with angular momentum quantum
p numbers j = l = k/2 and
r = k. The mass eigenvalue is L2 m2 = H(j, l, r) + 16 − 8 H(j, l, r) + 4, where H(j, l, r) ≡
6[j(j + 1) + l(l + 1) − r2 /8]. Show that the dimension of Ok is still 3k/2 at large ’t Hooft
coupling. (This is actually unsurprising, since Ok is a special type of operator whose dimension
is protected from corrections.)
2. Gauge Theory on Branes at an Orientifold
In class, we’ve mentioned that N D-branes located at an orientifold fixed point (for reflection
~x → −~x in the directions orthogonal to the branes) have an SO(2N ) gauge group (for a
standard orientifold). Here, we will confirm this in a couple of ways.
(a) [2 points] First, we recall from class that the orientifold reflection takes a CP matrix
λ → γλT γ −1 . Find the condition on γ due to the fact that two reflections gives the
identity.
(b) [3 points] As it turns out, string oscillators are odd under the orientifold reflection, so the
allowed massless states, including the gauge bosons, must satisfy γλT γ −1 = −λ. In a basis
where γ is the identity, show that exp[iθλ] for some parameter θ is a 2N × 2N orthogonal
matrix, so the gauge bosons are proportional to generators of the orthogonal group.
(c) [3 points] Alternately, we know that a general symmetry transformation is λ → U λU †
(with U ∈ U (2N )). Using the basis of the previous part, show that the form of λ is
unchanged only if U is orthogonal.

3. [12 points] AdS Abelian Higgs 4-Point Function

Consider a CFT with a some complex scalar operator O that carries charge for a conserved
current J µ . The AdS duals of these operators are a complex scalar ψ and a vector AM with
action
Z  
p 1
S = Sgravity ± dd+1 x |g| − FM N F M N − (∂M ψ − igAM ψ) ∂ M ψ̄ + igAM ψ̄ − m2 |ψ|2 ,


4
(2)
where the overall sign depends on signature (Lorentzian vs Euclidean). This theory is used
widely in holographic superconductor models.
Write the correlator hŌ(x1 )O(x2 )Ō(x3 )O(x4 )i to order g 2 in terms of the scalar bulk-boundary
and bulk-bulk propagators K(z, x; y) and G(z, x; z 0 , x0 ) respectively and the vector bulk-boundary
and bulk-bulk propagators KM (z, x; y) and GM N (z, x; z 0 , x0 ). Do not substitute forms for the
propagators or attempt to evaluate any bulk integrals. You may also ignore boundary terms
in the action.

4. The Bulk-Boundary Vector Propagator adapted from McGreevy

Witten (see our reading from hep-th/9802150) gave a clever derivation of the scalar bulk-
boundary propagator in the AdS Poincaré coordinates. In this problem, you will find the
bulk-boundary propagator for a vector field AM in AdS. You may set the AdS scale L = 1 and
work in either signature.
(a) [5 points] Assuming that the vector field in question has the usual Lagrange density
−(1/4)FM N F M N , write the equation of motion for Aµ that is a function of z only. Then
find the solution that vanishes as z → 0 for all values of xµ . Assume that Az = 0 and that
Aµ is proportional to some constant vector µ .
(b) [10 points] The bulk-boundary propagator for a vector field satisfies the vector equation
of motion at every point xM in the bulk and is ∝ ν δ d (x − y) for z → 0, where y µ is a
specified boundary point and ν is a fixed polarization vector. Your solution from part
(a) is therefore the bulk-boundary propagator when the boundary point is the point at
infinity. Use Witten’s inversion trick and translation invariance in the y µ to find the general

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 bulk-boundary propagator up to an overall normalization constant for a given polarization
vector ν . Hint: remember that AM is a vector and must transform as such under the
inversion diffeomorphism.

5. Confinement in the AdS Soliton

Consider the so-called AdS soliton geometry, which has metric

dz 2
 
2 1 2 2 4 4 2
ds = 2 −dt + d~x + + (1 − z /z0 )dχ (3)
z 1 − z 4 /z04

in 5D (we have set the AdS scale L = 1). The χ direction must have periodicity πz0 to avoid
a conical singularity at z = z0 , and the geometry ends at z = z0 — no larger values of z exist.
In this problem, we consider the Wilson loop formed by a “quark line” at x = −r/2 and an
“anti-quark line” at x = +r/2, both extending a very large extent T in time. In pure AdS
(1), the value of this Wilson line is ln W = −T V (r) ∝ 1/r, where V is the quark/anti-quark
potential. Calculate the Wilson line in the AdS soliton background by using its dual as the
action of a string worlsheet “hanging” from the line on the boundary, as follows.
(a) [8 points] The Nambu-Goto action for the string worldsheet is
Z p
0
S = (1/2πα ) dτ dσ det gM N ∂a X M ∂b X n (4)

(converting to Euclidean signature). Take the worlsheet directions to be τ = t, σ = x with

z also a function of x. Noting that the t integral is trivial, take x to be a Euclidean time
direction and prove that (∂x z)2 = (z̄ 4 /z 4 − 1)(1 − z 4 /z04 ), where z̄ is the maximum value
of z(x).
(b) [8 points] Assume r  z0 . Argue in this case that z̄ ≈ z0 and that z(x) ≈ z̄ except in a
small region of length δx ∼ z0 near x = ±r/2.
(c) [8 points] Using the previous two parts of the problem, show that the quark/anti-quark
potential is given approximately by r/2πα0 z02 (once it is appropriately renormalized). This
is what we expect in a confining phase of a gauge theory. Hint: Having a good physical
idea of the shape of the string worldsheet is important, so sketch it if you need to.

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