2000/04/30 by A. Brandhuber, K. Sfetsos · 2 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Black Holes and Theoretical Physics #Cosmology and Gravitation Theories #Noncommutative and Quantum Gravity Theories #hep-th
paper · pdf · doi:10.1016/s0370-2693(00)00896-0
published as Phys.Lett. B488 (2000) 373-382 · 16 pages, latex2e, 1 figure. v2: minor modifications, version to appear in PLB
arxiv created 2000/07/31 · openalex publication_date 2000/09/01 · arxiv updated 2009/11/30 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
We study flows on the scalar manifold of N=8 gauged supergravity in five dimensions which are dual to certain mass deformations of N=4 super Yang--Mills theory. In particular, we consider a perturbation of the gauge theory by a mass term for the adjoint hyper-multiplet, giving rise to an N=2 theory. The exact solution of the 5-dim gauged supergravity equations of motion is found and the metric is uplifted to a ten-dimensional background of type-IIB supergravity. Using these geometric data and the AdS/CFT correspondence we analyze the spectra of certain operators as well as Wilson loops on the dual gauge theory side. The physical flows are parametrized by a single non-positive constant and describe part of the Coulomb branch of the N=2 theory at strong coupling. We also propose a general criterion to distinguish between `physical' and `unphysical' curvature singularities. Applying it in many backgrounds arising within the AdS/CFT correspondence we find results that are in complete agreement with field theory expectations.