Baryonic branches and resolutions of Ricci-flat Kahler cones

TL;DR

This paper explores deformations of superconformal field theories via baryonic operators, using supergravity solutions on Ricci-flat Kahler cones to model RG flows between AdS fixed points, with explicit examples from Y^{p,q} theories.

Contribution

It constructs explicit supergravity solutions for baryonic branches involving Ricci-flat Kahler cones and matches these with field theory analyses, advancing understanding of holographic RG flows.

Findings

Supergravity solutions describe flows from Y^{p,q} theories to orbifold theories.

Probe D3-branes used to compute baryonic operator expectation values.

Successful matching of gravity solutions with field theory results.

Abstract

We consider deformations of N=1 superconformal field theories that are AdS/CFT dual to Type IIB string theory on Sasaki-Einstein manifolds, characterised by non-zero vacuum expectation values for certain baryonic operators. Such baryonic branches are constructed from (partially) resolved, asymptotically conical Ricci-flat Kahler manifolds, together with a choice of point where the stack of D3-branes is placed. The complete solution then describes a renormalisation group flow between two AdS fixed points. We discuss the use of probe Euclidean D3-branes in these backgrounds as a means to compute expectation values of baryonic operators. The Y^{p,q} theories are used as illustrative examples throughout the paper. In particular, we present supergravity solutions describing flows from the Y^{p,q} theories to various different orbifold field theories in the infra-red, and successfully match this to an explicit field theory analysis.