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arXiv · 0711.3226

Supersymmetric Wilson loops on S^3

Nadav Drukker·Simone Giombi·Riccardo Ricci·Diego Trancanelli
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Abstract

This paper studies in great detail a family of supersymmetric Wilson loop operators in N=4 supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory we have recently found. For a generic curve on an S^3 in space-time the loops preserve two supercharges but we will also study special cases which preserve 4, 8 and 16 supercharges. For certain loops we find the string theory dual explicitly and for the general case we show that string solutions satisfy a first order differential equation. This equation expresses the fact that the strings are pseudo-holomorphic with respect to a novel almost complex structure we construct on AdS_4 x S^2. We then discuss loops restricted to S^2 and provide evidence that they can be calculated in terms of similar observables in purely bosonic YM in two dimensions on the sphere.

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Nadav Drukker, Simone Giombi, Riccardo Ricci, Diego Trancanelli. 2008-04-27. Supersymmetric Wilson loops on S^3. https://doi.org/10.1088/1126-6708%2F2008%2F05%2F017

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