Giant gravitons and the emergence of geometric limits in $β$-deformations of ${\cal N}=4$ SYM
We study a one parameter family of supersymmetric marginal deformations of ${\cal N}=4$ SYM with $U(1)^3$ symmetry, known as $β$-deformations, to understand their dual $AdS\times X$ geometry, where $X$ is a large classical geometry in the $g_{YM}^2N\to \infty$ limit. We argue that we can determine whether or not $X$ is geometric by studying the spectrum of open strings between giant gravitons states, as represented by operators in the field theory, as we take $N\to\infty$ in certain double scaling limits. We study the conditions under which these open strings can give rise to a large number of states with energy far below the string scale. The number-theoretic properties of $β$ are very important. When $\exp(iβ)$ is a root of unity, the space $X$ is an orbifold. When $\exp(iβ)$ close to a root of unity in a double scaling limit sense, $X$ corresponds to a finite deformation of the orbifold. Finally, if $β$ is irrational, sporadic light states can be present.